STATE  NORMAL  SCHOOL, 


Autobiography  of  Froebel. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


FRIEDRICH   FROEBEL 


TRANSLATED  AND  ANNOTATED  BY 
EMILIE  MICHAELIS, 

Ihad  Mutn-xK  of  llu   Croydon  K'nidernavten,  and  Preparatory  School, 


H.  KEATLEY  MOORE,  Mus.Bac,  B.A., 

Examiner  in  Music  to  the  Frotbel  Society,  arul   Vice- Chairman  of  the   Croyden 
Kindergarten,  C'omjiany. 

"  Come,  let  w^  livt  fox  owv  chilrtrcn/* 

37SI 


SYRACUSE,    N.    Y.  : 

C.    W.    BARDEEN,    PUBLISHER. 

1S89. 


Copyright,  1889,  by  C.  W.  BARDEEN. 


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5  il^CniJiIZG,  GZ^U.  GSl 


PREFACE  TO  THE  AMERICAN  EDITION. 

It  will  be  long  before  we  have  a  biography  of  Froebel 
to  compare  with  DeGuimp's  Pestalozzi,  of  which  an  Eng- 
lish translation  has  just  appeared.  Meantime  we  must 
content  ourselves  with  two  long  autobiographical  letters 
contained  in  this  volume,  which,  though  incomplete,  have 
yet  the  peculiar  charm  that  comes  from  the  candid  record 
of  genuine  impressions. 

The  first  of  these  letters,  that  to  the  Duke  of  Meiningen, 
has  already  appeared  in  English,  in  a  translation  by  Miss 
Lucy  Wheelock  for  Barnard's  American  J^ournal  of  Edu- 
cation^ since  reprinted  in  pp.  21-48  of  his  Kindergarten  and 
Child  Ctilture,  (see  p.  146 j,  and  in  a  small  volume  under 
the  title  Autobiography  of  Froebel  (see  p.  146 J.  While  a 
faithful  attempt  to  reproduce  the  original,  this  translation 
struggled  in  vain  to  transform  Froebel's  rugged  and 
sometimes  seemingly  incoherent  sentences  into  adequate 
and  attractive  English,  so  that  the  long  letter  has  proved 
to  most  English  readers  formidable  and  repellant.  But  in 
the  original  it  is  one  of  the  most  charming  productions  in 
literature,  candid  and  confidential  in  tone,  and  detailing 
those  inner  gropings  for  ideas  that  became  convictions 
which  only  an  autobiography  can  reveal.  These  qualities 
are  so  admirably  preserved  in  the  translation  by  Miss 
Emily  Michaelis  and  H.  Keatley  Moore  that  it  seemed  to 
leave  nothing  to  be  desired.  They  have  not  only  given 
a  faithful  rendering,  but  they  have  impressed  upon  it  the 
loving  touch  of  faithful  disciples.  Accordingly  I  pur- 
chased from  the  English  publishers  the  American  rights 
to   this   translation;    and  have   reproduced   not  onlv  this 

(vii) 


Autobiography  of  Froebel. 


letter,  but  that  to  the  philosopher  Krause,  with  Barop's 
"Critical  Moments,"  and  the  "Chronological  Abstract," 
all  from  duplicates  of  the  English  plates. 

The  rest  of  the  volume  appears  for  the  first  time.  The 
Bibliography  seemed  desirable,  and  is  confined  to  attain- 
able books  likely  to  be  of  value  to  American  teachers. 
The  Index  is  full,  but  not  fuller  than  the  fragmentary 
character  of  the  material  seemed  to  require.  The  Table 
of  Contents  will  also  serve  to  make  reference  easy  to  the 
principal  evens  of  Froebel's  history. 

In  the  lives  of  Pestalozzi  and  of  Froebel  many  resem- 
blances may  be  traced.  Both  were  sons  of  clergymen. 
Both  were  half-orphans  from  their  earliest  recollections. 
Both  were  unhappy  in  childhood,  were  misunderstood, 
companionless,  awkward,  clumsy,  ridiculed.  Both  were 
as  boys  thrown  into  the  almost  exclusive  society  of 
women,  and  both  retained  to  the  last  strongly  ferninine 
characteristics.  Both  were  throughout  life  lacking  in 
executive  ability;  both  were  financially  improvident.  Both 
were  dependent  for  what  they  did  accomplish  upon  friends, 
and  both  had, the  power  of  inspiring  and  retaining  friend- 
ships that  were  heroic,  Pestalozzi's  Kriisi  corresponding 
with  Froebel's  Middendorf.  Both  became  teachers  only  by 
accident,  and  after  failure  in  other  professions.  Both  saw 
repeated  disaster  in  the  schools  they  established,  and  both 
were  to  their  last  days  pointed  at  as  visionary  theorists 
of  unsound  mind.  Both  failed  to  realize  their  ideas,  but  both 
planted  their  ideas  so  deeply  in  the  minds  of  others  that 
they  took  enduring  root.  Both  lacked  knowledge  of 
men,  but  both  knew  and  loved  children,  and  were  happi- 
est when  personally  and  alone  they  had  children  under  their 
charge.  Both  delighted  in  nature,  and  found  in  solitary 
contemplation  of  flowers  and  woods  and  mountains  relief 
from  the  disappointments  they  encountered  among  their 
fellows. 


Preface  to  the  American  Edition.  ix 

But  there  were  contrasts  too.  Pestalozzi  had  no  family 
tics,  while  Froebel  maintained  to  the  last  the  closest  rela- 
tions with  several  brothers  and  their  households.  Pesta- 
lozzi married  at  twenty-three  a  woman  older  than  himself, 
on  whom  he  thereafter  relied  in  all  his  troubles.  Froebel 
deferred  his  marriage  till  thirty-six  and  then  seems  to  have 
regarded  his  wife  more  as  an  advantage  to  his  school  than 
as  a  help-meet  to  himself. 

Pestalozzi  was  diffident,  and  in  dress  and  manner  careless 
to  the  point  of  slovenliness;  Froebel  was  extravagant  in 
his  self-confidence,  and  at  times  almost  a  dandy  in  attire. 
Pestalozzi  was  always  honest  and  candid,  while  Froebel 
was  as  a  boy  untruthful.  Pestalozzi  was  touchingly  hum- 
ble, and  eager  to  ascribe  the  practical  failure  of  his  theories 
to  his  personal  inefficiency;  Froebel  never  acknowledged 
himself  in  the  wrong,  but  always  attributed  failure  to  ex- 
ternal causes.  On  the  other  hand,  while  Froebel  was 
equable  in  temperment,  Pestalozzi  was  moody  and  im- 
pressionable, flying  from  extreme  gaiety  to  extreme  dejec- 
tion, slamming  the  door  if  displeased  with  a  lesson  a 
teacher  was  giving,  but  coming  back  to  apologize  if  he 
met  a  child  who  smiled  upon  him.  Under  Rousseau's  in- 
fluence Pestalozzi  was  inclined  to  skepticism,  and  limited 
religious  teaching  in  school  to  the  reading  of  the  gospels, 
and  the  practice  of  Christianity ;  Froebel  was  deeply  pious, 
and  made  it  fundamental  that  education  should  be  founded 
plainly  and  avowedly  upon  religion. 

Intellectually  the  contrast  is  even  stronger.  While 
Froebel  had  a  university  education,  Pestalozzi  was  an 
eminently  ignorant  man;  his  penmanship  was  almost 
illegible,  he  could  not  do  simple  sums  in  multiplication, 
he  could  not  sing,  he  could  not  draw,  he  wore  out  all  his 
handkerchiefs  gathering  pebbles  and  then  never  looked  at 
them  afterward.  Froebel  was  not  only  a  reader  but  a 
scientific   reader,  always  seeking    first   to  find    out   what 


Autobiography  of  Froebcl. 


others  had  discovered  that  he  might  begin  where  they 
left  off;  Pestalozzi  boasted  that  he  had  not  read  a  book  in 
forty  years.  Naturally,  therefore,  Pestalozzi  was  always 
an  experimenter,  profiting  by  his  failures  but  always  failing 
in  his  first  attempts,  and  hitting  upon  his  most  character- 
istic principles  by  accident;  while  Froebel  was  a  theorist, 
elaborating  his  ideas  mentally  before  putting  them  in 
practice,  and  never  satisfied  till  he  had  properly  located 
them  in  his  general  scheme  of  philosophy. 

And  yet,  curiously  enough,  it  is  Pestalozzi  who  was  the 
author.  His  "Leonard  and  Gertrude"  was  read  by  every 
cottage  fireside,  while  Froebel's  writings  were  intelligible 
only  to  his  disciples.  Pestalozzi  had  an  exuberant  imag- 
ination and  delightful  directness  and  simplicity  of  ex- 
pression;  Froebel's  style  was  labored  and  obscure,  and 
his  doctrines  may  be  better  known  through  the  "  Child  and 
Child  Nature  "  of  the  Baroness  Marenholz  von  Buelow 
than  through  his  own  "  Education  of  Man." 

The  account  of  Froebel's  life  given  in  this  volume  is 
supplemented  somewhat  by  the  "  Reminiscences  "  of  this 
same  Baroness,  who  became  acquainted  with  him  in  1849, 
and  was  thereafter  his  most  enthusiastic  and  successful 
apostle.  Till  some  adequate  biography  appears,  that 
volume  and  this  must  be  relied  upon  for  information  of 
the  man  who  shares  equally  with  Pestalozzi  the  honor  of 
educational  reform  in  this  century. 

C.  W.  Bardeen. 

Syracuse,  June  10,  1889. 


COMMENTS    UPON    FROEBEL   AND   HIS    WORK. 


Und  als  er  so,  wie  Wichard  Lange  richtig  sagt,  der 
Apostel  des  weiblichen  Gechlechts  geworden  war,  starb 
er,  der  geniale,  unermiidlich  thiitige,  von  Liebe  getragene 
Mann. — Schmidt,  Geschichte  der  Fddagoglk,  Cothen,  1862, 
iv.  282. 

En  resume,  Rousseau  aurait  pu  etre  deconcerte  par  les 
inventions  pratiques,  un  peu  subtiles  parfois,  de  1'  ingen- 
ieux  Froebel.  II  eut  souri,  comme  tout  le  monde,  des 
artifices  par  lesquels  il  obligeait  I'enfant  tl  se  faire  acteur 
au  milieu  de  ses  petits  camarades,  a  imiter  tour  a  tour  le 
soldat  qui  monte  la  garde,  le  cordonnier  qui  travaille,  le 
cheval  qui  pietine,  I'homme  fatigue  qui  se  repose.  Mais, 
sur  les  principes,  il  se  serait  mis  aisement  d'accord  avec 
I'auteur  de  /'  Education  de  /'  /lo/nine,  avec  un  penseur  a  I'ame 
tendre  et  noble,  qui  remplayait  les  livres  par  les  choses, 
qui  a  une  instruction  pedantesque  substituait  1'  education 
interieure,  qui  aux  connaissances  positives  preferait  la 
chaleur  du  sentiment,  la  vie  intime  et  profonde  de  1'  Ame, 
qui  respectait  la  liberie  et  la  spontaneite  de  1'  enfant,  qui 
enfin  s'  efForgait  d'  ecarter  de  lui  les  niauvaises  influences 
et  de  faire  a  son  innocence  un  milieu  digne  d'  elle — Com- 
payre's  Histoire  Critique  des  Doctrines  de  /'  Education  en 
France  depuis  le  XVIme  Siec/e,  Paris,  1879,  i^-  125. 

We  might  say  that  his  effort  in  pedagogy  consists  chiefly 
in  organizing  into  a  system  the  sense  intuitions  which 
Pestalozzi  proposed  to  the  child  somewhat  at  random  and 
without  direct  plan. — Compayre's  History  of  Pedagogy, 
Payne's  translation,  Boston,  1886,  p.  449. 

(xi) 


Autobiography  of  Froebel. 


Er  war  gleich  Pestalozzi  von  den  huchsten  Ideen  der 
Zeit  getragen  and  suchte  die  Erziehung  an  diese  Ideen 
an/Likniipfen.  So  lange  die  Mutter  nicht  nach  den  Ge- 
setzen  der  Natur  ihr  Kind  erzieht  und  bildet  und  dafiir 
nicht  ihr  Leben  einsetst,  so  lange — davon  geht  er  aus — 
sindalle  Reformen  der  Schule  auf  Sand  gebaut.  Trotsdem 
verlegt  er  eincn  Theil  der  miitterlichen  Aufgabe  in  den 
Kindergarten,  in  welchem  er  die  Kinder  vor  ihre  Schul- 
pflicinigkeit  vereinigt  wissen  will,  Oj  um  auf  die  hilusliche 
Erziehung  ergiinzend  und  verbessernd  einzuwirken,  (z) 
um  das  Kind  aus  deni  Einzelleben  heraus  Zum  Verkehr 
mit  seinesgleichenzu  fiihren,  und  (i)  um  dem  weiblichen 
Geschlechte  Gelegenheit  zu  geben,  sich  auf  seinen  erzie- 
herischen  Beruf  vorzubereiten. — Bohim's  Kurzgefasstc  Ges- 
chichte  der  Fddagogik,  Niirnberg,  1880,  p.  134. 

Le  jardin  d'enfants  est  evidemment  en  opposition  avec 
I'idee  fondamentale  de  Pestalozzi;  car  celui-ci  avait 
confie  entierement  ;\  la  mere  et  au  foyer  domestique  la 
tiiche  que  Froebel  remet,  en  grande  partie,  aux  jardins 
d'enfants  et  ii  sa  directrice.  A  1'  egard  des  rapports  de 
r  I'ducation  domestique,  telle  qui  elle  est  a  1'  heure  qu'il 
est,  on  doit  reconnaitre  que  Frobebel  avait  un  coup-d'  oeil 
plus  juste  que  Pestalozzi. — Histoirc  d'  Kducatioiu  Frederick 
DiTTES,  Redolfi's  French  translation,  Paris,  1880,  p.  258. 

While  others  have  taken  to  the  work  of  education  their 
own  pre-conceived  notions  of  what  that  work  should  be, 
Froebel  stands  consistently  alone  in  seeking  in  the  nature 
of  the  child  the  laws  of  educational  action — in  ascertaining 
from  the  child  himself  how  we  are  to  educate  him. — Joseph 
Payne,  Lectures  on  the  Science  and  Art  of  Education^  Syracuse, 
1885,  p.  254. 

Years  afterwards,  the  celebrated  Jahn  (^the  "  Father 
Jahn  "  of  the  German  gymnastics;  told  a  Berlin  student 
of  a  queer  fellow  he  had  met,  who  made  all  sorts  of  won- 
derful things  from    stones    and  cobwebs.     This  queer  fel- 


Conwients  upon  Froebel  and  his   Work.  xiii 

low  was  Froebel;  and  the  habit  of  making  out  general 
truths  from  the  observation  of  nature,  especially  from 
plants  and  trees,  dated  from  the  solitary  rambles  in  the 
Forest. 

As  the  cultivator  creates  nothing  in  the  trees  and  plants, 
so  the  educator  creates  nothing  in  thechildren, — he  merely 
superintends  the  development  of  inborn  faculties.  So  far 
Froebel  agrees  with  Pestalozzi ;  but  in  one  respect  he  was 
beyond  him,  and  has  thus  become,  according  to  Michelet, 
the  greatest  of  educational  reformers.  Pestalozzi  said 
that  the  faculties  were  developed  by  exercise.  Frobel 
added  that  the  function  of  education  was  to  develop  the 
faculties  by  arousing  voluntary  activity.  Action  proceeding 
from  inner  impulse  ( Selbsthdtigkeit )  was  the  one  thing 
needful,  and  here  Froebel  as  usual  refers  to  God  :  "  God's 
every  thought  is  a  work,  a  deed."  As  God  is  the  Creator, 
so  must  man  be  a  creator  also.  Living  acting,  conceiving, 
— these  must  form  a  triple  cord  within  every  child  of  man, 
though  the  sound  now  of  this  string,  now  of  that  may  pre- 
ponderate, and  then  again  of  two  together. 

Pestalozzi  held  that  the  child  belonged  to  the  family  ; 
Fichte  on  the  other  hand,  claimed  it  for  society  and  the 
State.  Froebel,  whose  mind,  like  that  of  Frederick  Maurice, 
delighted  in  harmonizing  apparent  contradictions,  and 
who  taught  that  "all  progress  lay  through  opposites  to 
their  reconciliations,"  maintained  that  the  child  belonged 
both  to  the  family  and  to  society,  and  he  would  therefore 
have  children  spend  some  hours  of  the  day  in  a  common 
life  and  in  well-organized  common  employments.  These 
assemblies  of  children  he  would  not  call  schools,  for  the 
children  in  them  ought  not  to  be  old  enough  for  school- 
ing. So  he  invented  the  term  Kindergarten^  garden  of 
children,  and  called  the  superintendents  "children's 
gardeners." — R.  H.  Quick,  in  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  xix 
edition. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Introductory 1,  2 

Letter  to  the  Duke  of  Meiningen 3-101 

Birth  and  early  life 3,  104 

Enters  the  girls'  school 9 

Goes  away  from  home  to  Stadt-Ihm 15 

Is  apprenticed  to  a  forester 24 

Returns  to  his  father's  house 27 

Goes  to  the  University  of  Jena 28,  105 

Returns  home  again 35 

Goes  to  Bamberg  as  clerk 33 

Becomes  land-surveyor 39 

Goes  to  the  Oberf alz  as  accountant 42 

Soon  after  to  Mecklenberg 42 

Gets  small  inheritance  from  his  uncle 43 

Goes  to  Frankfurt 48,  107 

Becomes  teacher  in  the  Model  School 31,  109 

Visits  Pestalozzi 52 

Resigns  to  become  a  private  tutor 65,  110 

Takes  his  three  pupils  to  Yverdon 77 

Returns  to  Frankfurt 84 

Goes  to  the  University  of  Gottingen 84,  111 

Goes  to  Berlin 89,  111 

Enters  the  army 91,  111,  120 

Becomes  curator  in  Berlin 96,  111,  121 

Enlists  in  the  army  again 100,  121 

Supplementary  remarks  by  the  translators 102, 103 

Letter  to  K  kause 104-1 25 

Begins  at  Griesheim  his  ideal  work 113,  121 

Undertakes  education  of  his  nephews. 121 

Moves  to  Keilhau 122,  127 

(xiv) 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  xv 

Note  by  the  translators 126 

Critical  Moments  in  the  Froebel  Community 127' 137 

Froebel  goes  to  the  Wartensee 131 

Then  to  Willisau 132,  136 

Then  to  the  Orphanage  at  Burgdorf 135,  136 

Visits  Berlin 137 

Notes  by  the  translators 138, 139 

Death  of  Froebel 138 

Chronological  Abstract  of  Fboebel's  Life  and  Moa'e- 

ment 140-144 

Bibliography  of  Froebel 145-152 

Index 153-167 


2  Introductory. 

Froebel's  opinions,  character,  and  work  grow  so  directly  out  of 
his  life,  that  we  feel  the  best  of  his  writing  that  a  student  of 
the  Kindergarten  system  could  begin  with  is  the  important 
autobiographical  "  Letter  to  the  Duke  of  Meiningen,"  written  in 
the  year  1827,  but  never  completed,  and  in  all  probability 
never  sent  to  the  sovereign  whose  name  it  bears.  That  this 
is  the  course  Froebel  would  himself  have  preferred  will,  we 
think,  become  quickly  apparent  to  the  reader.  Besides,  in  the 
boyhood  and  the  earliest  experiences  of  Froebel's  life,  we  find 
the  sources  of  his  whole  educational  system.  That  other  children 
might  be  better  understood  than  he  was,  that  other  children 
might  have  the  means  to  live  the  true  child-life  that  was  denied 
to  himself,  and  that  by  their  powers  being  directed  into  the  right 
channels,  these  children  might  become  a  blessing  to  themselves 
and  to  others,  was  undoubtedly  in  great  part  the  motive  which 
induced  Froebel  to  describe  so  fully  all  the  circumstances  of  his 
peculiar  childhood.  We  should  undoubtedly  have  a  clearer 
comprehension  of  many  a  great  reformer  if  he  had  taken  the 
trouble  to  write  out  at  length  the  impressions  of  his  life's  dawn, 
as  Froebel  has  done.  In  Froebel's  particular  case,  moreover,  it 
is  evident  that  although  his  account  of  himself  is  unfinished,  we 
fortunately  possess  all  that  is  most  important  for  the  under- 
standing of  the  origin  of  the  Kindergarten  system.  After  the 
"  Letter  to  the  Duke  of  Meiningen,"  we  have  placed  the  shorter 
account  of  his  life  which  Froebel  included  in  a  letter  to  the 
philosopher  Krause.  A  sketch  of  Barop's,  which  varies  the 
point  of  view  by  regarding  the  whole  movement  more  in  its  outer 
aspec  than  even  Froebel  himself  is  able  to  do,  seemed  to  us  also 
desirable  to  translate ;  and  finally  we  have  added  also  a  carefully 
prepared  "chronology"  extended  from  Lange's  list.  Our  trans- 
lation is  made  from  the  edition  of  Froebel's  works  published 
by  Dr.  Wichard   Lange  at  Berlin  in  1862. 

Emilie  Michaelis. 
H.  Keatley  Moore. 

The  Croydon  Kindergarten, 
January  1886. 


INTRODUCTORY. 


;HE  year  1882  was  the  centenary  of  Froebel's  birth, 
and  in  the  present  "plentiful  lack"  of  faithful  trans- 
lations of  Froebel's  own  words  we  proposed  to 
the  Froebel  Society  to  issue  a  translation  of  the 
"  Education  of  Man,"  which  we  would  undertake  to  make  at 
our  own  cost,  that  the  occasion  might  be  marked  in  a  manner 
worthy  of  the  English  branch  of  the  Kindergarten  movement. 
But  various  reasons  prevented  the  Society  from  accepting  our 
ofter,  and  the  lamentable  deficiency  still  continues.  We  have 
therefore  endeavoured  to  make  a  beginning  by  the  present  work, 
consisting  of  Froebel's  own  words  done  into  English  as  faithfully 
as  we  know  how  to  render  them,  and  accompanied  with  any 
brief  explanation  of  our  own  that  may  be  essential  to  the  clear 
understanding  of  the  passages  given.  We  have  not  attempted 
to  rewrite  our  author,  the  better  to  suit  the  practical,  clear- 
headed, common-sense  English  character,  but  have  preferred 
simply  to  present  him  in  an  English  dress  with  his  national  and 
personal  peculiarities  untouched. 

In  so  doing  we  are  quite  aware  that  we  have  sacrificed  interest, 
for  in  many  passages,  if  not  in  most,  a  careful  paraphrase  of 
Froebel  would  be  much  more  intelligible  and  pithy  to  English 
readers  than  a  true  rendering,  since  he  probably  possesses  every 
fault  of  style  except  over-conciseness ;  but  we  feel  that  it  is  better 
to  let  Froebel  speak  for  himself. 

For  the  faithfulness  of  translation  we  hope  our  respective 
nationalities  may  have  stood  us  in  good  stead.  We  would, 
however,  add  that  a  faithful  translation  is  not  a  verbal  trans- 
lation. The  translator  should  rather  strive  to  write  each  sentence 
as  the  author  would  have  written  it  in  English. 

I 


y 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF    FROEBEL. 

(a  letter  to  the  duke  of  meiningen.) 

WAS  born  at  Oberweissbach,  a  village  in  the 
Thuringian  Forest,  in  the  small  principality  of 
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt,  on  the  21st  April,  1782. 
My  father  was  the  principal  clergyman,  or  pastor, 
there.*  (He  died  in  1802.)  I  was  early  initiated  into  the  conflict 
of  life  amidst  painful  and  narrowing  circumstances;  and  ignorance 
of  child-nature  and  insufficient  education  wrought  their  influence 
upon  me.  Soon  after  my  birth  my  mother's  health  began  to  fail, 
and  after  nursing  me  nine  months  she  died.  This  loss,  a  hard 
blow  to  me,  influenced  the  whole  environment  and  development 
of  my  being :  I  consider  that  my  mother's  death  decided  more  or 
less  the  external  circumstances  of  my  whole  life. 

The  cure  of  five  thousand  souls,  scattered  over  six  or  seven 
villages,  devolved  solely  on  my  father.  This  work,  even  to  a 
man  so  active  as  my  father,  who  was  very  conscientious  in  the 
fulfilment  of  his  duty  as  minister,  was  all-absorbing ;  the  more 
so  since  the  custom  of  frequent  services  still  prevailed.  Besides 
all  this,  my  father  had  undertaken  to  superintend  the  building  of 
a  large  new  church,  which  drew  him  more  and  more  from  his 
home  and  from   his  children. 

I  was  left  to  the  care  of  the  servants ;  but  they,  profiting  by 
my  father's  absorption  in  his  work,  left  me,  fortunately  for  me, 
to  my  brothers,  who  were  somewhat  older  than  myself.f     This, 

*  Johann  Jacob  Froebel,  father  of  Friedrich,  belonged  to  the  Old  Lutheran 
Protestant  Church. 

f  These  were  four  (i)  August,  who  went  into  business,  and  died  yotlng. 
(2)  Christoph,  a  clergyman  in  Griesheim,  who  died  in  l8l3of  the  typhus,  which 
then  overspread  all  central  Germany,  having  broken  out  in  the  over-crowded 
hospitals  after  the  battle  of  Leipzig ;  he  was  the  father  of  Julius,  Karl,  and 


Autobiography  of  Froebel. 


in  addition  to  a  circumstance  of  my  later  life,  may  have  been  the 
cause  of  that  unswerving  love  for  my  family,  and  especially  for 
my  brothers,  which  has,  to  the  present  moment,  been  of  the 
gregieA  importance  to  me  in  the  conduct  of  my  life.  Although 
my  father,  for  a  village  pastor,  was  unusually  well  informed — 
nay,  even  learned  and  experienced — and  was  an  incessantly  active 
man,  yet  in  consequence  of  this  separation  from  him  during  my 
earliest  years  I  remained  a  stranger  to  him  throughout  my  life  ; 
and  in  this  way  I  was  as  truly  without  a  father  as  without  a 
mother.  Amidst  such  surroundings  I  reached  my  fourth  year. 
My  father  then  married  again,  and  gave  me  a  second  mother.  My 
soul  must  have  felt  deeply  at  this  time  the  want  of  a  mother's 
love, — of  parental  love, — for  in  this  year  occurs  my  first  conscious- 
ness of  self.  I  remember  that  I  received  my  new  mother  over- 
flowing with  feelings  of  simple  and  faithful  child-love  towards  her. 
These  sentiments  made  me  happy,  developed  my  nature,  and 
strengthened  me,  because  they  were  kindly  received  and  recipro- 
cated by  her.  But  this  happiness  did  not  endure.  Soon  my 
step-mother  rejoiced  in  the  possession  of  a  son  of  her  own  ;* 
and  then  her  love  was  not  only  withdrawn  entirely  from  me  and 
transferred  to  her  own  child,  but  I  was  treated  with  worse  than 
indifference — by  word  and  deed,  I  was  made  to  feel  an  utter 
stranger. 

I  am  obliged  here  to  mention  these  circumstances,  and  to 
describe  them  so  particularly,  because  in  them  I  see  the  first 
cause  of  my  early  habit  of  introspection,  my  tendency  to  self- 
examination,  and  my  early  separation  from  companionship  with 
other  men.     Soon  after  the  birth  of  her  own   son,  when  I  had 


Theodor,  the  wish  to  benefit  whom  led  their  uncle  Friedrich  to  begin  his 
educational  work  in  Griesheim  in  1816.  {3)  Christian  Ludwig,  first  a  manu- 
facturer in  Osterode,  and  then  associated  with  F'riedrich  from  1820  onwards, 
— bom  24th  June,  1770,  died  9th  January,  1851.  (4)  Traugott,  who  studied 
medicine  at  Jena,  became  a  medical  man,  and  was  burgomaster  of  Stadt-I!m. 
Friedrich  August  Wilhelm  himself  was  born  on  the  21st  April,  1782,  and 
died  on  the  21st  June,    1852.     He  had  no  sisters. 

*  Karl  Poppo  Froebel,  who  became  a  teacher,  and  finally  a  publisher, — 
born  1786  ;  died  25th  March,  1824:  not  to  be  confounded  with  his  nephew, 
Karl,  son  of  ("hnstopli,  now  living  in  Edinburgh. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  5 

scarcely  entered  my  boyhood,  my  step-mother  ceased  to  use  the 
sympathetic,  heart-uniting  "  thou  "  in  speaking  to  me,  and  began 
to  address  me  in  the  third  person,  the  most  estranging  of 
our  forms  of  speech.  And  as  in  this  mode  of  address  the 
third  person,  "he,"  isolates  the  person  addressed,  it  created 
a  great  chasm  between  my  step-mother  and  me.*  At  the 
beginning  of  my  boyhood,  I  already  felt  utterly  lonely,  and  my 
soul  was  filled  with  grief. 

Some  coarse-minded  people  wished  to  make  use  of  my  senti- 
ments and  my  mood  at  this  time  to  set  me  against  my  step-mother, 
but  my  heart  and  mind  turned  with  indignation  from  these 
persons,  whom  I  thenceforth  avoided,  so  far  as  I  was  able.  Thus 
I  became,  at  an  early  age,  conscious  of  a  nobler,  purer,  inner-life, 
and  laid  the  foundation  of  that  proper  self-consciousness  and 
moral  pride  which  have  accompanied  me  through  life.  Tempta- 
tions returned  from  time  to  time,  and  each  time  took  a  more 
dangerous  form  :  not  only  was  I  suspected  as  being  capable  of 
unworthy  things,  but  base  conduct  was  actually  charged  against 
me,  and  this  in  such  a  way  as  left  no  doubt  of  the  impropriety 
of  the  suspicion  and  of  the  untruthfulness  of  the  accusation.  So 
it  came  to  pass  that  in  the  first  years  of  my  boyhood  I  was 
perforce  led  to  live  to  myself  and  in  myself — and  indeed  to  study 
my  own  being  and  inner  consciousness,  as  opposed  to  external 

*  This  needs  explanation.  In  Germany,  even  by  strangers,  children  are 
universally  addressed  in  the  second  person  singular,  which  carries  with  it  a 
certain  caressing  sentiment.  Grown  persons  would  be  addressed  (except  by 
members  of  their  own  family,  or  intimate  friends)  in  the  third  person  plural. 
Thus,  if  one  met  a  child  in  the  street,  one  might  say,  Willst  Du  mit  mir 
kommen  ?  (Wilt  thou  come  with  me  ?)  ;  whereas  to  a  grown  person  the  proper 
fdrm  would  be,  VVollen  Sie  mit  mir  kommen  ?  (Will  THEY — meaning,  will  YOU 
— come  with  me?).  The  mode  of  speech  of  which  Froebel  speaks  here  is  now 
almost  obsolete,  and  even  in  his  day  was  only  used  to  a  person  of  markedly 
inferior  position.  Our  sentence  would  run  in  this  case,  Will  Er  mit  mir 
kommen  ?  (Will  he — meaning,  will  you,  John  or  Thomas — come  with  me  ?), 
and  carries  with  it  a  sort  of  contemptuous  superciliousness,  as  if  the  person 
spoken  to  were  beneath  the  dignity  of  a  direct  address.  It  is  evident,  therefore, 
that  to  a  sensitive,  self-torturing  child  like  Froebel,  being  addressed  in  this 
manner  would  cause  the  keenest  pain  ;  since,  as  he  justly  says,  it  has  the 
effect,  by  the  mere  form  of  speech,  of  isolating  the  person  addressed.  Such 
a  one  is  not  to  be  considered  as  of  our  family,  or  even  of  our  rank  in  life. 


Autobiography  of  Frocbel. 


circumstances.  My  inward  and  my  outward  life  were  at  that 
time,  even  during  play  and  other  occupations,  my  principal  subjects 
for  reflection  and  thought. 

A  notable  influence  upon  the  development  and  formation  of  my 
character  was  also  exercised  by  the  position  of  my  parents'  house. 
It  was  closely  surrounded  by  other  buildings,  walls,  hedges,  and 
fences,  and  was  further  enclosed  by  an  outer  courtyard,  a  pad- 
dock, and  a  kitchen  garden.  Beyond  these  latter  I  was  strictly 
forbidden  to  pass.  The  dwelling  had  no  other  outlook  than  on 
to  the  buildings  to  right  and  left,  the  big  church  in  front,  and 
at  the  back  the  sloping  fields  stretching  up  a  high  hill.  For  a 
long  time  I  remained  thus  deprived  of  any  distant  view  :  but 
above  me  I  saw  the  sky,  clear  and  bright  as  we  so  often  find 
it  in  the  hill  country ;  and  around  me  I  felt  the  pure  fresh  breeze 
stirring.  The  impression  which  that  clear  sky  and  that  pure  air 
then  made  on  me  has  remained  ever  since  present  to  my  mind. 
My  perceptions  were  in  this  manner  limited  to  only  the  nearest 
objects.  Nature,  with  the  world  of  plants  and  flowers,  so  far 
as  I  was  able  to  see  and  understand  her,  early  became  an  object 
of  observation  and  reflection  to  me.  I  soon  helped  my  father 
in  his  favourite  occupation  of  gardening,  and  in  this  way  received 
many  permanent  perceptions;  but  the  consciousness  of  the  real 
life  in  nature  only  came  to  me  further  on,  and  I  shall  return  to 
the  point  hereafter  in  the  course  of  my  narrative.  Our  domestic 
life  at  this  time  gave  me  much  opportunity  for  occupation  and 
reflection.  Many  alterations  went  on  in  our  house  ;  both  my 
parents  were  exceedingly  active-minded,  fond  of  order,  and 
determined  to  improve  their  dwelling  in  every  possible  way. 
I  had  to  help  them  according  to  my  capacity',  and  soon  perceived 
that  I  thereby  gained  strength  and  experience  ;  while  through  this 
growth  of  strength  and  experience  my  own  games  and  occupations 
became  of  greater  value  to  me. 

But  from  my  life  in  the  open  air  amongst  the  objects  of  nature, 
and  from  the  externals  of  domestic  life,  I  must  now  turn  to  the 
inner  aspects  of  my  home  and  family. 

My  father  -'as  a  theologian  of  the  old  school,  who  held  know- 
ledge and  science  in  less  estimation  than  faith ;  but  yet  he 
endeavoured  to  keep  pace  with  the  times.     For  this  purpose  he 


Autobiography  of  Froebel. 


subscribed  to  the  best  periodicals  he  could  obtain,  and  carefully 
examined  what  information  they  offered  him.  This  helped  not 
a  little  to  elevate  and  enlighten  the  old-fashioned  truly  Christian 
life  which  reigned  in  our  family.  Morning  and  evening  all  its 
members  gathered  together,  and  even  on  Sunday  as  well,  although 
on  that  day  divine  service  would  of  course  also  call  upon  us 
to  assemble  for  common  religious  worship.  Zollikofer,  Hermes, 
Marezoll,  Sturm,  and  others,  turned  our  thoughts,  in  those 
delightful  hours  of  heavenly  meditation,  upon  our  innermost 
being,  and  served  to  quicken,  unfold,  and  raise  up  the  life  of  the 
soul  within  us.  Thus  my  life  was  early  brought  under  the,^' 
influence  of  nature,  of  useful  handiwork,  and  of  religious  feelings  ; 
or,  as  I  prefer  to  say,  the  primitive  and  natural  inclinations  of 
every  human  being  were  even  in  my  case  also  tenderly  fostered 
.in  the  germ.  I  must  mention  here,  with  reference  to  my  ideas 
regarding  the  nature  of  man,  to  be  treated  of  later,  and  as  throw- 
ing light  upon  my  professional  and  individual  work,  that  at  this 
time  I  used  repeatedly,  and  with  deep  emotion,  to  resolve  to  try 
and  be  a  good  and  brave  man.  As  I  have  heard  since,  this  firm 
inward  resolution  of  mine  was  in  flagrant  contrast  with  my  out- 
ward life.  I  was  full  of  youthful  energy  and  in  high  spirits,  and 
did  not  always  know  how  properly  to  moderate  my  vivacity. 
Through  my  want  of  restraint  I  got  into  all  kinds  of  scrapes. 
Often,  in  my  thoughtlessness,  I  would  destroy  the  things  I  saw  . 
around  me,  in  the  endeavour  to  investigate  and  understand  them. 

My  father  was   prevented  by  his    manifold  occupations   from^ 
himself  instructing  me.     Besides,  he  lost  all  further  inclination  to 
teach  me,  after  the  great  trouble  he  found  in  teaching  me  to  read 
— an  art  which  came  to  me  with  great  difficulty.    ,As  soon  as  I 
could  read,  therefore,  I  was  sent  to  the  public  village  school. 

The  position  in  which  my  father  stood  to  the  village  school- 
masters, that  is  to  say,  to  the  Cantor,*  and  to  the  master  of  the 
girls'   school,   and  his  judgment  of  the  value   of  their  respective 


*  The  Cantor  would  combine  the  duties  of  precentor  (whence  his  title), 
leading  the  church  singing  and  training  the  choristers,  with  those  of  the 
schoolmaster  of  the  village  boys'  school.  In  large  church-schools  the 
Cantor  is  simply  the  choir-master.  The  great  Bach  was  Cantor  of  the 
Thomas- Schule,  Leipzig. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel. 


teaching,  decided  him  to  send  me  to  the  latter.  This  choice  had 
a  remarkable  influence  on  the  development  of  my  inner  nature, 
on  account  of  the  perfect  neatness,  quiet,  intelligence,  and  order 
which  reigned  in  the  school ;  nay,  I  may  go  further,  and  say  the 
school  was  exactly  suitable  for  such  a  child  as  I  was.  In  proof 
of  this  I  will  describe  my  entrance  into  the  school.  At  that  time 
church  and  school  generally  stood  in  strict  mutual  relationship, 
and  so  it  was  in  our  case.  The  school  children  had  their  special 
places  in  church ;  and  not  only  were  they  obliged  to  attend 
church,  but  each  child  had  to  repeat  to  the  teacher,  at  a  special 
class  held  for  the  purpose  every  Monday,  some  passage  of  Scrip- 
ture used  by  the  minister  in  his  sermon  of  the  day  before,  as  a 
proof  of  attention  to  the  service.  From  these  passages  that  one 
which  seemed  most  suitable  to  children  was  then  chosen  for  the 
little  ones  to  master  or  to  learn  by  heart,  and  for  that  purpose 
one  of  the  bigger  children  had  during  the  whole  week,  at  certain 
times  each  day,  to  repeat  the  passage  to  the  little  children, 
sentence  by  sentence.  The  little  ones,  all  standing  up,  had  then 
to  repeat  the  text  sentence  by  sentence  in  like  manner,  until  it 
was  thoroughly  imprinted  on  their  memories. 

I  came  into  school  on  a  Monday.  The  passage  chosen  for  that 
week  was,  "  Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God."  I  heard  these 
words  every  day  in  the  calm,  serious,  somewhat  sing-song  voices 
of  the  children,  sometimes  repeated  by  one  child,  sometimes  by 
the  whole  number.  And  the  text  made  an  impression  upon  me 
such  as  none  had  ever  done  before  and  none  ever  did  after. 
Indeed,  this  impression  was  so  vigorous  and  permanent,  that  to 
this  day  every  word  spoken,  with  the  special  tone  and  expression 
then  given  to  it,  is  still  vivid  in  my  mind.  And  yet  that  is  now 
nearly  lorty  years  ago !  Perhaps  even  then  the  simple  boy's 
heart  felt  that  these  words  would  be  the  foundation  and  the 
salvation  of  his  life,  bringing  to  him  that  conviction  which  was 
to  become  later  on  to  the  working  and  striving  man  a  source 
of  unconquerable  courage,  of  unflinching,  ever-ready,  and  cheerful 
self-sacrifice.  In  short,  my  introduction  into  that  school  was  my 
birth  into  the  higher  spiritual  life. 

Here  I  break  off  my  narrative  to  ask  myself  whether  I  dare 
venture  to  pause  yet  a  little  longer  over  this  first  period  of  my 


Autobiography  of  Froebel. 


life.  But  this  was  the  time  when  the  buds  began  to  unfold  on 
my  tree  of  life ;  this  was  the  time  when  my  heart  found  its 
pivot-point,  and  when  first  my  inner  life  awoke.  If,  then,  I 
succeed  in  giving  an  exact  description  of  my  early  boyhood,  I 
shall  have  provided  an  important  aid  to  the  right  understanding 
of  my  life  and  work  as  a  man.  For  that  reason  I  venture  to 
dwell  at  some  inordinate  length  on  this  part  of  my  Hfe,  and  the 
more  willingly  since  I  can  pass  more  quickly  over  later  periods. 

It  often  suggests  itself  to  me,  while  thus  reviewing  and  describ- 
ing my  life,  just  as  it  does  with  teaching  and  education — namely, 
that  those  things  which  are  by  most  men  thrown  aside  as  common 
^nd  unimportant  are  the  very  things  which  are,  as  I  take  it,  of 
weightiest  import.  In  my  eyes,  it  is  always  a  mistake  to  leave 
a  gap  in  the  rudimentary  and  fundamental  part  of  a  subject. 
Still  I  know  one  may  exhaust  the  patience  of  a  reader  by 
touching  on  every  minute  detail,  before  he  has  been  permitted 
to  glance  at  the  whole  picture  and  to  gather  its  scope  and  object. 
Therefore  I  beg  your  Highness  *  to  pass  over,  at  all  events  on 
the  first  reading,  anything  that  may  appear  too  long  and  too 
•detailed. 

Against  standing  rules,  I  was  received  in  the  girls'  school,  on 
account  of  the  position  of  my  father  as  pastor  of  the  district.  For 
the  same  reason  I  was  placed,  not  with  the  pupils  of  my  own  age, 
Taut  close  to  the  teacher,  which  brought  me  among  the  elder  girls. 
I  joined  in  their  lessons  as  far  as  I  could.  In  two  subjects  I  was 
•quite  able  to  do  this.  First,  I  could  read  the  Bible  with  them; 
and,  secondly,  I  had  to  learn  line  by  line,  instead  of  the  little 
texts  of  the  younger  children  already  spoken  of,  the  hymns  for 
the  following  Sunday's  service.  Of  these,  two  especially  light 
up  the  gloomy  lowering  dawn  of  my  early  boyhood,  like  two 
brilliant  stars.  They  are — "  Schwing  dich  auf,  mein  Herz  und 
Geist,"  and  "  Es  kostet  viel  ein  Christ  zu  sein."  t  These  hymns 
were  hymns  of  life  to  me.     1  found  my  own  little  life  expressed 


*  It  will  be  remembered  that  this  letter  is  addressed  to  the  Duke  of 
^einingen. 

t  "Arise,  my  heart  and  spirit,"  and  "It  costs  one  much  (it  is  a  difficult 
task)  to  be  a  Christian." 


-] 


lO  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

therein  ;  and  they  took  such  a  hold  upon  me  that  often  in  later 
years  I  have  found  strength  and  support  in  the  message  which 
they  carried  to  my  soul.  My  father's  home  life  was  in  complete 
harmony  with  this  discipline  of  the  school.  Although  divine 
service  was  held  twice  on  Sundays,  I  was  but  very  seldom 
allowed  to  miss  attending  each  service.  I  followed  my  father's 
sermons  with  great  attention,  partly  because  I  thought  I  found  in 
them  many  allusions  to  his  own  position,  profession,  and  life. 
Looking  back,  I  consider  it  of  no  slight  importance  that  I  used  to 
hear  the  service  from  the  vestry,  because  I  was  there  separated 
from  the  congregation,  and  could  the  better  keep  my  attention 
from  wandering. 

I  have  already  mentioned  that  my  father  belonged  to  the  old 
orthodox  school  of  theology ;  and  in  consequence  the  language 
both  of  his  hymns  and  of  his  sermons  was  mystical  and  s3'mbolic 
~ — a  style  of  speech  which,  in  more  than  one  sense,  I  should  call 
a  stone-language,  because  it  requires  an  overwhelming  power  to 
burst  its  walls,  and  free  from  this  outer  shell  the  life  contained 
within.  But  what  the  full  strength  of  later  life  seems  too  weak 
to  attain,  is  often  accomplished  by  the  living,  life-awakening, 
and  life-giving  power  of  some  simple,  thoughtful  young  soul,  by 
some  young  spirit  first  unfolding  its  wings,  busily  seeking  every- 
where for  the  causes  and  connections  of  all  things.  Even  for 
such  a  youth,  the  treasure  is  to  be  gained  only  after  long 
examination,  inquiry,  and  reflection.  If  ever  I  found  that  for 
which  I  "so  longingly  sought,  then  was  I  tilled  with  exceeding  joy. 

The  surroundings  amidst  which  I  had  grown  up,  especially 
those  in  which  my  first  childhood  was  passed,  had  caused  my 
senses  to  be  much  and  early  exercised.  The  pleasures  of  the 
senses  were  from  the  first,  therefore,  an  object  for  the  closest  con- 
sideration with  me.  The  results  of  this  analysing  and  questioning 
habit  of  my  early  boyhood  were  perfectly  clear  and  decisive,  and, 
if  not  rendered  into  words,  were  yet  firmly  settled  in  my  mind. 
I  recognised  that  the  transitory  pleasures  of  the  senses  were 
without  enduring  and  satisfying  influence  on  man,  and  that  they 
were  therefore  on  no  account  to  be  pursued  with  too  great 
eagerness.  This  conviction  stamped  and  determined  my  whole 
being,  just  as  my  questioning  examination  and  comparison  of  the 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  I  l 

inner  with  the  outer  world,  and  my  study  of  their  inter-connection, 
is  now  the  basis  of  my  whole  future  life.  Unceasing  self- 
contemplation,  self-analysis,  and  self-education  have  been  the 
fundamental  characteristics  of  my  life  from  the  very  first,  and 
have  remained  so  until  these  latest  days. 

To  stir  up,  to  animate,  to  awaken,  and  to  strengthen,  the 
pleasure  and  power  of  the  human  being  to  labour  uninter- 
ruptedly at  his  own  education,  has  become  and  always  re- 
mained the  fundamental  principle  and  aim  of  my  educational 
work. 

Great  was  my  joy  when  I  believed  I  had  proved  completely  to 
my  own  satisfaction  that  I  was  not  destined  to  go  to  hell.  The 
stony,  oppressive  dogmas  of  orthodox  theology  I  very  early 
explained  away,  perhaps  assisted  in  this  by  two  circumstances. 
Firstly,  I  heard  these  expressions  used  over  and  over  again,  from 
my  habit  of  being  present  at  the  lessons  given  by  my  father  in 
our  own  house,  in  preparation  for  confirmation.  I  heard  them 
used  also  in  all  sorts  of  ways,  so  that  my  mind  almost  uncon- 
sciously constructed  some  sort  of  explanation  of  them.  Secondly, 
I  was  often  a  mute  witness  of  the  strict  way  in  which  my  father 
performed  his  pastoral  duties,  and  of  the  frequent  scenes  between 
him  and  the  many  people  who  came  to  the  parsonage  to  seek 
advice  and  Consolation.  I  was  thus  again  constantly  attracted 
from  the  outer  to  the  inner  aspects  of  life.  Life,  with  its  inmost 
motives  laid  bare,  passed  before  my  eyes,  with  my  father's 
comments  pronounced  upon  it ;  and  thing  and  word,  act  and 
symbol  were  thus  perceived  by  me  in  their  most  vivid  relation- 
ship. I  saw  the  disjointed,  heavy-laden,  torn,  inharmonious  life 
of  man  as  it  appeared  in  this  community  of  five  thousand  souls, 
before  the  watchful  eyes  of  its  earnest,  severe  pastor.  Matri- 
monial and  sexual  circumstances  especially  were  often  the  objects 
of  my  father's  gravest  condemnation  and  rebuke.  The  way  in 
which  he  spoke  about  these  matters  showed  me  that  they  formed 
one  of  the  most  oppressive  and  difficult  parts  of  human  conduct ; 
and,  in  my  youth  and  innocence,  I  felt  a  deep  pain  and  sorrow 
that  man  alone,  among  all  creatures,  should  be  doomed  to  these 
separations  of  sex,  whereby  the  right  path  was  made  so  difficult 
for  him  to  find.     I  felt  it  a  real  necessity  for  the  satisfaction  of 


12  Autobiography  oj  Froebel. 

my  heart  and  mind  to  reconcile  this  difificulty,  and  yet  could  find 
no  way  to  do  so.  How  could  I  at  that  age,  and  in  my  position  ? 
But  my  eldest  brother,  who,  like  all  my  elder  brothers,  lived  away 
from  home,  came  to  stay  with  us  for  a  time ;  and  one  day,  when 
I  expressed  my  delight  at  seeing  the  purple  threads  of  the  hazel 
buds,  he  made  me  aware  of  a  similar  sexual  difference  in  plants. 
Now  was  my  spirit  at  rest.  I  recognised  that  what  had  so 
weighed  upon  me  was  an  institution  spread  over  all  nature,  to 
which  even  the  silent,  beautiful  race  of  flowers  was  submitted. 
From  that  time  humanity  and  nature,  the  life  of  the  soul  and  the 
life  of  the  flower,  were  closely  knit  together  in  my  mind  ;  and  I 
can  still  see  my  hazel  buds,  like  angels,  opening  for  me  the  great 
God's  temple  of  Nature. 

I  now  had  what  I  needed  :  to  the  Church  was  added  the 
Nature-Temple  ;  to  the  religious  Christian  life,  the  hfe  of  Nature  ; 
to  the  passionate  discord  of  human  life  the  tranquil  peace  of  the 
life  of  plants.  From  that  time  it  was  as  if  I  held  the  clue  of 
Ariadne  to  guide  me  through  the  labyrinth  of  life.  An  intimate 
communion  with  Nature  for  more  than  thirty  years  (although, 
indeed,  often  interrupted,  sometimes  for  long  intervals)  has  taught 
me  that  plants,  especially  trees,  are  a  mirror,  or  rather  a  symbol, 
of  human  life  in  its  highest  spiritual  relations  ;  and  I  think  one 
of  the  grandest  and  deepest  fore-feelings  that  have  ever  emanated 
from  the  human  soul,  is  before  us  when  we  read,  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  of  a  tree  of  knowledge  of  good  and  evil.  The  whole 
of  Nature  teaches  us  to  distinguish  good  from  evil ;  even  the 
world  of  crystals  and  stones — though  not  so  vividly,  calmly, 
clearly,  and  manifestly  as  the  world  of  plants  and  flowers.  I  said 
my  hazel  buds  gave  me  the  clue  of  Ariadne.  Many  things  grew 
clear  to  me  :  for  instance,  the  earliest  life  and  actions  of  our  first 
parents  in  Paradise,  and  much  connected  therewith. 

There  are  yet  three  points  touching  my  inner  life  up  to  my 
tenth  year,  which,  before  I  resume  the  narrative  of  my  outer  life, 
I  should  like  to  mention  here. 

The  folly,  superstition,  and  ignorance  of  men  had  dared  to 
assume  then,  as  they  have  done  latel}',  that  the  world  would 
soon  come  to  an  end.  My  mind,  however,  remained  perfectly 
tranquil,  because    I  reasoned    thus  with    myself  firmly  and  de- 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  1 3 

finitely  : — Mankind  will  not  pass  from  the  world,  nor  will  the 
world  itself  pass  away,  until  the  human  race  has  attained  to  that 
degree  of  perfection  of  which  it  is  capable  on  earth.  The  earth. 
Nature  in  its  narrowest  sense,  will  not  pass  away,  moreover, 
until  men  have  attained  a  perfect  insight  into  its  essence.  This 
idea  has  returned  to  me  during  my  life  in  many  a  varied  guise, 
and  I  have  often  been  indebted  to  its  influence  for  peace,  firmness, 
perseverance,  and  courage. 

Towards  the  end  of  this  epoch,  my  eldest  brother,  already 
spoken  of,  was  at  the  university,  and  studied  theology.*  Philoso- 
phic criticism  was  then  beginning  to  elucidate  certain  Church 
dogmas.  It  was  therefore  not  very  surprising  that  father  and 
son  often  differed  in  opinion.  I  remember  that  one  day  they  had 
a  violent  dispute  about  religion  and  Church  matters.  My  father 
stormed,  and  absolutely  declined  to  yield ;  my  brother,  though 
naturally  of  a  mild  disposition,  flushed  deep-red  with  excitement ; 
and  he,  too,  could  not  abandon  what  he  had  recognised  as  true. 
I  was  present  also  on  this  as  on  many  other  occasions,  an  un- 
observed witness,  and  can  still  see  father  and  son  standing  face  to 
face  in  the  conflict  of  opinion.  I  almost  thought  I  understood 
something  of  the  subject  in  dispute  ;  I  felt  as  if  I  must  side  with 
my  brother,  but  there  seemed  at  the  same  time  something  in  my 
father's  view  which  indicated  the  possibility  of  a  mutual  under- 
standing. Already  I  felt  in  a  dim  way  that  every  illusion  has  a 
true  side,  which  often  leads  men  to  cling  to  it  with  a  desperate 
firmness.  This  conviction  has  become  more  and  more  confirmed 
in  me  the  longer  I  have  lived ;  and  when  at  any  time  I  have 
heard  two  men  disputing  for  the  truth's  sake,  I  have  found  that  .  ^^^ 
the  truth  is  usually  to  be  learnt  from  both  sides.  Therefore  I 
have  never  liked  to  take  sides ;  a  fortunate  thing  for  me.t 

Another  youthful  experience  which  also  had  a  decided  influence 
in  forming  my  cast  of  character,  was  the  following  : — There  are 
certain   oft-repeated   demands  made  upon  the   members    of  our    ., 

*  Christoph  Froebel  is  here  meant.  -  He  studied  at  the  University  of 
Jena. 

■f  In  this  case  Froebel's  usually  accurate  judgment  of  his  own  character  seems 
at  fault ;  his  opinions  being  always  most  decided,  even  to  the  point  of  some- 
times rendering  him  incapable  of  fairly  appreciating  the  views  of  others. 


14  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

Established  Church  ;  such  as,  to  enter  upon  the  service  of  Christ, 
to  show  forth  Christ  in  one's  life,  to  follow  Jesus,  etc.  These 
injunctions  were  brought  home  to  me  times  without  number 
through  the  zeal  of  my  father  as  a  teacher  of  others  and  a  liver 
himself  of  a  Christian  life.  When  demands  are  made  on  a  child 
which  are  in  harmony  with  child  nature,  he  knows  no  reluctance 
in  fulfilling  them;  and  as  he  receives  them  entirely  and  un- 
reservedly, so  also  he  complies  with  them  entirely  and  unre- 
servedly. That  these  demands  were  so  often  repeated  convinced 
me  of  their  intense  importance ;  but  I  felt  at  the  same  time  the 
difficulty,  or  indeed,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  the  impossibility  of 
fulfilling  them.  The  inherent  contradiction  which  I  seemed  to 
perceive  herein  threw  me  into  great  depression ;  but  at  last  1 
arrived  at  the  blessed  conviction  that  human  nature  is  such  that 
it  is  not  impossible  for  man  to  live  the  life  of  Jesus  in  its  purity, 
and  to  show  it  forth  to  the  world,  if  he  will  only  take  the  right 
way  towards  it. 

This  thought,  which,  as  often  as  it  comes  into  my  mind,  carries 
me  back  even  now  to  the  scenes  and  surroundings  of  my  boy- 
hood, may  have  been  not  improbably  amongst  the  last  mental 
impressions  of  this  period,  and  it  may  fitly  close,  therefore,  the 
narrative  of  my  mental  development  at  this  age.  It  became, 
later,  the  point  whereon  my  whole  life  hinged. 

From  what  I  have  said  of  my  boyish  inner  life,  it  might  be 
assumed  that  my  outer  life  was  a  happy  and  peaceful  one.  Such 
an  assumption  would,  however,  not  be  correct.  It  seems  as  if  it 
had  always  been  my  fate  to  represent  and  combine  the  hardest 
and  sharpest  contrasts.  My  outer  life  was  really  in  complete 
contrast  with  my  inner.  I  had  grown  up  without  a  mother ;  my 
physical  education  had  been  neglected,  and  in  consequence  I  had 
acquired  many  a  bad  habit.  I  always  liked  to  be  doing  something 
or  another,  but  in  my  clumsy  way  I  made  mistakes  as  to  choice 
of  materials,  of  time,  and  of  place,  and  thus  often  incurred  the 
severe  displeasure  of  my  parents.  I  felt  this,  being  of  a  sensitive 
disposition,  more  keenly  and  more  persistently  than  my  parents ; 
the  more  so  as  I  felt  myself  generally  to  blame  in  form  rather 
than  in  substance,  and  in  my  inmost  heart  I  could  see  there  was 
a  point  of  view  from  whence  my  conduct  would  seem,  in  substance 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  15 

:at  all  events,  not  altogether  wrong,  still  less  blameworthy.  The 
motives  assigned  to  my  actions  were  not  those  which  actuated 
me,  so  far  as  I  could  tell ;  and  the  consciousness  of  being  mis- 
judged made  me  really  what  I  had  been  believed  to  be  before,  a 
thoroughly  naughty  boy.  Out  of  fear  of  punishment  I  hid  even 
the  most  harmless  actions,  and  when  I  was  questioned  I  made 
untruthful  answers. 

In  short,  I  was  set  down  as  wicked,  and  my  father,  who  had 
not  always  time  to  investigate  the  justice  of  the  accusations  against 
me,  remembered  only  the  facts  as  they  were  represented  to  him. 
My  neglected  childhood  called  forth  the  ridicule  of  others ;  when 
playing  with  my  step-brother,  I  was  always,  according  to  my 
mother,  the  cause  of  anything  that  went  wrong.  As  the  mind  of 
my  parents  turned  more  and  more  away  from  me,  so  on  my  side 
my  life  became  more  and  more  separated  from  theirs ;  and  I  was 
abandoned  to  the  society  of  people  who,  if  my  disposition  had 
not  been  so  thoroughly  healthy,  might  have  injured  me  even  more 
than  they  did.  I  longed  to  escape  from  this  unhappy  state  of 
things  ;  and  I  considered  my  elder  brothers  fortunate  in  being 
all  of  them  away  from  home.  Just  at  this  melancholy  time  came 
home  my  eldest  brother.  He  appeared  to  me  as  an  angel  of 
deliverance,  for  he  recognised  amidst  my  many  faults  my  better 
nature,  and  protected  me  against  ill-treatment.  He  went  away 
again  after  a  short  stay ;  but  I  felt  that  my  soul  was  linked  to  his, 
thenceforth,  down  to  its  inmost  depths ;  and  indeed,  after  his 
death,  this  love  of  mine  for  him  turned  the  whole  course  of  my 
life.* 

The  boon  was  at  last  vouchsafed  me,  and  that  at  my  greatest 
need,  to  leave  my  father's  house.  Had  it  been  otherwise, 
the  flagrant  contradiction  between  my  outer  and  inner  life  must 
necessarily  have  developed  the  evil  inclinations  which  had  begun 
in  earnest  to  fasten  upon  me.  A  new  life  entirely  different  from 
the  former  now  opened  before  me.  I  was  ten  years  and  nine 
months  old.     But  I  pause  yet  another  moment  in  the  contempla- 


*  Froebel  is  alluding  to  his  undertaking  the  education  of  his  T)rother  Chris- 
toph's  sons,  in  November  1816,  when  he  finally  decided  to  devote  his  life  to  the 
cause  of  education. 


1 6  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

tion  of  this  period  before  I  pass  to  its  narration.  In  order  to  be 
clearly  understood  by  your  serene  Highness,  which  is  very 
necessary  to  me  if  I  am  to  attain  my  object,  I  will  compare,  with 
your  permission,  my  former  life  with  my  present.  I  shall  en- 
deavour to  show  how  I  trace  the  connection  of  my  earlier  and  my 
later  life ;  how  my  earlier  life  has  proved  for  me  the  means  of 
understanding  my  later ;  how,  in  general,  my  own  individual  life 
has  become  to  me  a  key  to  the  universal  life,  or,  in  short,  to  what 
I  call  the  symbolic  life  and  the  perpetual,  conditioned,  and  un- 
broken chain  of  existence. 

Since,  throughout  the  period  which  I  have  just  described,  my 
inner  self,  my  life  and  being,  my  desires  and  endeavours,  were 
not  discerned  by  my  parents,  so  is  it  with  me  now.  with  regard 
to  certain  German  Governments.*  And  just  as  my  outward  life 
then  was  imperfect  and  incomplete,  through  which  incomplete- 
ness my  inner  life  was  misunderstood,  so  also  now  the  imper- 
fection and  incompleteness  of  my  establishment  prevent  people 
from  discerning  the  true  nature,  the  basis,  the  source,  the  aim  and 
purpose,  of  my  desires  and  endeavours,  and  from  promoting  them^ 
after  recognising  their  value,  in  a  right  princely  and  patriotic 
spirit. 

The  misapprehension,  the  oppression  under  which  I  suffered 
in  my  early  years,  prepared  me  to  bear  similar  evils  later  on,  and 
especially  those  which  weigh  upon  me  in  the  present  circum- 
stances of  my  life.  And  as  I  see  my  present  private  and  public 
life  and  my  destiny  reflected  in  a  part  of  my  former  life,  just  so 
do  I  read  and  trace  the  present  universal  life  in  my  former  indi- 
vidual life.  Moreover,  in  the  same  way  as  I  tried  as  child  or  boy 
to  educate  myself  to  be  a  worthy  man  according  to  those  laws 
which  God  had  implanted,  unknown  to  me,  within  my  nature,  so 
now  do  I  strive  in  the  same  way,  according  to  the  same  laws,  and 

*  At  the  time  Froebel  was  writing  this  autobiographical  letter  (1827),  and 
seeking  thereby  to  enlist  the  Duke  of  Meiningen's  sympathies  in  his  work,  in 
order  to  found  a  fresh  institution  at  Helba,  he  was  undergoing  what  was  almost 
a  persecution  at  Keilhau.  All  associations  of  progressive  men  were  frowned 
upon  as  politically  dangerous,  and  Keilhau,  amongst  the  rest,  was  held  in  sus- 
picion. Somewhat  of  this  is  seen  in  the  interesting  account  by  Barop  further 
on  ("  Critical  Moments  at  Keilhau  "). 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  IJ 


by  the  same  method,  to  educate  the  children  of  my  country. 
That  for  which  I  strove  as  a  boy,  not  yet  conscious  of  any  purpose^ 
the  human  race  now  strives  for  with  equal  unconsciousness  of 
purpose,  but  for  all  that  none  the  less  truly.  The  race  is,  how- 
ever, surrounded  by  less  favourable  circumstances  than  those 
which  influenced  me  in  my  boj^hood. 
/^  Life  in  its  great  as  well  as  in  its  small  aspects,  in  humanity 
'  and  the  human  race  as  well  as  in  the  individual  (even  though  the 
individual  man  often  wilfully  mars  his  own  existence)— life,  in 
the  present,  the  past,  and  the  future,  has  ahvays  appeared  to  me 
as  a  great  undivided  whole,  in  which  one  thing  is  explained,  is 
\  justified,  is  conditioned  and  urged  forward  by  the  other. 
~~  In  order  that,  if  it  be  possible,  there  should  remain  no  obscurity 
whatever  in  my  actions,  thoughts,  and  life,  I  shall  proceed  to 
consider  them  all,  down  to  the  very  latest  event  which  has  hap- 
pened to  me ;  that  is,  the  writing-down  of  this  statement  of  my 
life  for  your  Highness.  My  life  experience  it  is  which  urges  me 
to  do  this  ;  not  any  whim  or  caprice.  Common  worldly  wisdom 
would  challenge  such  a  step  if  it  were  known ;  no  one  would  de- 
sire to  take  it,  no  one  would  dare  to  take  it.  I  dare  it,  and  I  do 
it,  because  my  childhood  has  taught  me  that  where  for  trust  we 
find  distrust,  where  for  union  we  find  division,  where  for  belief 
we  find  doubt,  there  but  sad  fruit  will  come  to  the  harvest,  and  a 
burdensome  and  narrow  life  alone  can  follow. 

I  return  again  to  the  narrative  of  the  development  of  my  inner 
and  outer  life. 

A  new  existence  now  began  for  me,  entirely  opposed  to  that 
which  I  had  hitherto  led.  An  uncle  on  my  mother's  side  came  to 
visit  us  in  this  year;  he  was  a  gentle,  affectionate  man.*  His 
appearance  among  us  made  a  most  agreeable  impression  upon 
me.  This  uncle,  being  a  man  of  experience,  may  have  noticed 
the  adverse  influences  which  surrounded  me ;  for  soon  after  his 
departure  he  begged  my  father  by  letter  to  turn  me  over  to  him 
entirely.     My  father  readily  consented,  and  towards  the  end  of 


*  Herr  Hoffmann,  a  ckrgyman,  representing  the  State  in  Church  matter 
for  the  district  of  Stadt-Ilm  ;  a  post  somewhat  analogous  to  that  of  our  arch- 
deacon. 


1 8  Autobiography  of  Froehel. 


the  year  1792  I  went  to  him.  He  had  early  lost  both  wife  and 
child,  and  only  his  aged  mother-in-law  lived  in  his  house  with 
him.  In  my  father's  house  severity  reigned  supreme  ;  here,  on 
the  contrary,  mildness  and  kindness  held  sway.  There  I  en- 
countered mistrust ;  here  I  was  trusted.  There  I  was  under 
restraint;  here  I  had  liberty.  Hitherto  I  had  hardly  ever  been 
with  boys  of  my  own  age ;  here  I  found  forty  schoolfellows,  for  I 
joined  the  upper  class  of  the  town  school.* 

The  little  town  of  Stadt-Ilm  is  situated  in  a  somewhat  wide 
valley,  and  on  the  banks  of  a  small  limpid  stream.t  My  uncle's 
house  had  gardens  attached,  into  which  I  could  go  if  I  liked; 
but  I  was  also  at  liberty  to  roam  all  over  the  neighbourhood,  if 
only  I  obeyed  the  strict  rule  of  the  house  to  return  punctually 
at  the  time  appointed.  Here  I  drank  in  fresh  life-energy  in  long 
draughts ;  for  now  the  whole  place  was  my  playground,  whereas 
formerly,  at  home,  I  had  been  limited  to  our  own  walls.  I  gained 
freedom  of  soul  and  strength  of  body. 

The  clergyman  who  taught  us  never  interfered  with  our  games, 
played  at  certain  appointed  playgrounds,  and  always  with  great 
fun  and  spirit.  Deeply  humiliating  to  me  were  the  frequent 
slights  I  received  in  our  play,  arising  from  my  being  behind  boys 
of  my  age  in  bodily  strength,  and  more  especially  in  agility  ;  and 
all  my  dash  and  daring  could  not  replace  the  robust,  steady 
strength,  and  the  confident  sureness  of  aim  which  my  companions 
possessed.  Happy  fellows !  they  had  grown  up  in  continual 
exercise  of  their  youthful  boyish  strength.  I  feJt  myself  exceed- 
ingly fortunate  when  I  had  at  length  got  so  far  that  my  school- 
fellows could  tolerate  me  as  a  companion  in  their  games. 
But  whatever  I  accomplished  in  this  respect  by  practice, 
by  continual  effort  of  will,  and  by  the  natural  course  of 
life,  I  always  felt  myself  physically  deficient  in  contrast  with 
their  uncramped  boyish  powers.  Setting  aside  that  which 
I    had   been    robbed    of    by    my    previous  education,    my  new 


*  Equal  to  an  English  middle-class  school. 

\  The  Ilm,  flowing  through  Thuringia  into  the  Saale,  a  tributary  of  the 
Elbe.  Oberweissbach  is  upon  the  Schwarza,  also  floMiing  into  the  Saale. 
Weimar  stands  upon  the  Ilm,  Jena  upon  the  Saale. 


Autobiography  oj  Froebel.  19 

life  was  vigorous  and  unfettered  by  external  restraint;  and 
they  tell  me  I  made  good  use  of  my  opportunity.  The  world 
lay  open  before  me,  as  far  as  I  could  grasp  it.  It  may  indeed 
be  because  my  present  life  was  as  free  and  unconstrained  as  my 
former  life  had  been  cramped  and  constrained,  anyhow  the  com- 
panions of  my  youth  have  reminded  me  of  several  incidents  of 
that  time  which  make  me  think  that  my  good  spirits  led  me  to 
the  borders  of  wildness  and  extravagance ;  although  as  a  boy  I  con- 
sidered my  demeanour  quieter  by  far  than  that  of  my  companions 
of  my  own  age.  My  communion  with  Nature,  silent  hitherto, 
now  became  freer  and  more  animated.  And  as,  at  the  same 
time,  my  uncle's  house  was  full  of  peace  and  quiet  contemplation, 
I  was  able  as  I  grew  up  to  develop  that  side  of  my  character  also  ; 
thus  on  every  side  my  life  became  harmoniously  balanced. 

In  two  places,  alike  centres  of  education,  I  found  myself  as 
before  quite  at  home,  even  though  I  was  more  frequently  than 
ever  the  victim  of  absence  of  mind — I  mean  the  church  and  the 
school.  In  the  latter  I  especially  enjoyed  the  hours  devoted  to 
religious  instruction.  As  with  my  uncle  himself,  and  with  his 
life,  so  was  it  also  with  his  sermons ;  they  were  gentle,  mild, 
and  full  of  lovingkindness.  I  could  follow  them  quite  readily, 
and  in  the  Monday  repetition  at  school  I  was  able  to  give  a  good 
account  of  them.  But  the  religious  instruction  of  our  own  school- 
teacher responded  best  to  my  needs ;  all  that  I  had  worked  out 
for  myself  was  placed  by  him  in  a  fuller  light,  and  received  from 
him.  a  higher  confirmation.  Later  in  life,  when  I  had  grown  to 
manhood,  I  spoke  with  my  uncle  on  the  excellence  of  this  teach- 
ing, and  he  made  reply  that  it  was  indeed  very  good,  but  was 
too  philosophical  and  abstruse  for  those  to  whom  it  was 
addressed ;  "  for  thee,"  continued  he,  "  it  may  have  been  well 
suited,  since  thou  hadst  already  received  such  unusually  good 
instruction  from  thy  father."  Let  that  be  as  it  may,  this  teaching 
enlightened,  animated,  and  warmed  me, — nay,  glowed  within  me 
till  my  heart  was  completely  melted,  especially  when  it  touched 
upon  the  life,  the  work,  and  the  character  of  Jesus.  At  this  I 
would  burst  into  tears,  and  the  longings  to  lead  in  future  a 
similar  life  took  definite  form,  and  wholly  filled  my  soul.  When 
I  now  hear  tales  of  the  ebullitions  of  my  youthful  spirit  occurring 


20  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 


in  that  period  of  my  life,  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  they  must 
have  led  superficial  observers  to  the  erroneous  opinion  that  the 
monitions  and  teachings  of  religion  swept  over  my  spirit  without 
leaving  a  trace  of  their  passage.  And  yet  how  wrongly  would 
such  observers  have  judged  the  true  state  of  my  inner  life  ! 

The  subjects  best  taught  in  the  school  of  Stadt-Ilm  were 
reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  and  religion.  Latin  was  miserably 
taught,  and  still  worse  learnt.  Here,  as  in  so  many  similar 
schools,  the  teaching  utterly  lacked  the  elucidation  of  first  prin- 
ciples. The  time  spent  on  Latin  was  therefore  not  wasted  upon 
me,  in  so  far  that  I  learnt  from  it  that  such  a  method  of  teaching 
could  bear  no  fruit  among  the  scholars.  Arithmetic  was  a  very 
favourite  study  of  mine ;  and  as  I  also  received  private  tuition  in 
this  subject,  my  progress  was  so  rapid  that  I  came  to  equal  my 
teacher  both  in  theory  and  practice,  although  his  attainments 
were  by  no  means  despicable.  But  how  astonished  was  I  when, 
in  my  twenty-third  year,  I  first  went  to  Yverdon,  and  found 
I  could  not  solve  the  questions  there  being  set  to  the  scholars ! 
This  was  one  of  the  experiences  which  prepossessed  me  so 
keenly  in  favour  of  Pestalozzi's  method  of  teaching,  and  decided 
me  to  begin  arithmetic  myself  from  the  very  beginning  over  again, 
according  to  his  system.     But  more  of  this  later. 

In  physical  geography  we  repeated  our  tasks  parrot-wise, 
speaking  much  and  knowing  nothing ;  for  the  teaching  on  this 
subject  had  not  the  very  least  connection  with  real  life,  nor  had 
it  any  actuality  for  us,  although  at  the  same  time  we  could  rightly 
name  our  little  specks  and  patches  of  colour  on  the  map.  I 
received  private  tuition  in  this  subject  also.  My  teacher  wished 
to  advance  further  with  me ;  he  took  me  to  England.  I  could 
find  nc  connection  between  that  country  and  the  place  and 
country  in  which  I  dwelt  myself,  so  that  of  this  instruction  also  I 
retained  but  little.  As  for  actual  instruction  in  German,  it  was 
not  to  be  thought  of;  but  we  received  directions  in  letter-writing 
and  in  spelling.  I  do  not  know  with  what  study  the  teaching  of 
spelling  was  connected,  but  I  think  it  was  not  connected  with  any; 
it  hovered  in  the  air.  I  had  lessons,  furthermore,  in  singing 
and  in  pianoforte  playing,  but  without  result.  I  merely  mention 
all  this  now,  in  order  to  be  able  to  refer  to  it  later  on. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  2i 

My  life  the  whole  time  of  my  stay  with  my  uncle  had  three 
aspects  :  the  religious  life  developing  and  building  up  my  moral 
being;  the  external  life  made  up  of  boyish  play,  into  which  I 
threw  my  whole  energy ;  and  the  life  of  thought  quietly  showing 
itself  within  my  uncle's  peaceful  home.  To  this  last  influence  also 
I  yielded  myself  with  equal  earnestness,  and  felt  no  suspicion  of 
the  apparent  contradiction  which  my  outward  life  exhibited  to 
such  a  mood.  Like  my  school-fellows,  I  lived  without  control ; 
as  far  as  I  saw  or  felt,  I  was  untrammelled ;  and  yet  I  do  not  call 
to  mind  that  any  of  us  ever  committed  a  seriously  culpable 
action. 

Here  I  am  obliged  to  mention  something  which  as  an  educa- 
tionist I  can  by  no  means  pass  lightly  by.  We  received  instruc- 
tion from  two  schoolmasters  :  one  was  pedantic  and  rigid ;  the 
other,  more  especially  our  class-teacher  (conrector),  was  large- 
hearted  and  free.  The  first  never  had  any  influence  over  his 
class ;  the  second  could  do  whatever  he  pleased  with  us,  and  if 
he  had  but  set  his  mind  to  it,  or  perhaps  if  he  had  been  aware  of 
his  power,  he  might  have  done  some  thoroughly  good  sound 
work  with  his  class.  In  the  little  town  of  Stadt-Ilm  were  two 
ministers,  both  ephors  *  of  the  school.  My  uncle,  the  principal 
minister,  was  mild,  gentle,  and  kind-hearted,  impressive  in  daily 
life  as  in  his  sacred  office  or  in  the  pulpit ;  the  other  minister 
was  rigid  even  to  sternness,  frequently  scolding  and  ordering  us 
about.  The  first  led  us  with  a  glance.  A  word  from  him,  and 
surely  few  were  so  brutish  as  to  refuse  that  word  admittance  to 
their  heart.  The  long  exhortations  of  the  other  went,  for  the 
most  part,  over  our  heads,  leaving  no  trace  behind.  Like  my 
father,  my  uncle  was  a  true  shepherd  of  his  flock  ;  but  a  gentle 
lovingkindness  to  all  mankind  reigned  in  him.  My  father  was 
moved  by  the  conviction  of  the  rectitude  of  his  actions ;  he  was 
earnest  and  severe.  Both  have  been  dead  over  twenty  years  ; 
but  how  different  is  the  spirit  they  have  left  behind  amongst  their 
congregations.  Here,  they  are  glad  at  being  released  from  so 
strict  a  control,  and,  if  I  am  rightly  informed,  unbridled  license 

*   Superintendents.     The  ephors  of  ancient  Sparta  amongst  their  duties  had 
that  of  the  superintendence  of  education,  whence  the  German  title. 


22  Antohiography  oj  Frocbcl. 


has  sprung  up  amongst  them ;  there,  the  little  town  raises 
itself  to  higher  and  ever  higher  prosperity,  and  all  things  are 
made  to  serve  towards  mental  culture,  as  well  as  towards  a  rignt 
citizen-like  business  activity.  I  permit  myself  this  digression, 
because  these  results  were  paralleled  as  a  life-experience  in  my 
own  life. 

In  this  manner  I  lived,  up  to  my  confirmation ;  all  but  a  few 
weeks,  that  is,  which  I  spent  at  my  parents'  house  during  the 
long  holidays.  Here,  too,  everything  seemed  to  take  a  gentler 
turn,  and  the  domestic,  thrifty  activity  which  filled  the  place,, 
and  always  struck  me  anew  in  my  periodical  visits  home, 
wrought  upon  me  with  most  beneficial  effect.  The  copper-plate 
engravings  in  my  father's  library  were  the  first  things  I  sought 
out,  especially  those  representing  scenes  in  the  history  of  the 
world.  A  table  showing  our  (German)  alphabet  in  its  relations 
with  many  others  made  a  surprising  impression  upon  me.  It 
enabled  me  to  recognise  the  connection  and  the  derivation  of  our 
letters  from  the  old  Phoenician  characters.  This  gave  me  a  dim 
conception  of  the  inner  connection  of  all  those  languages  of 
which,  as  my  brother  had  studied  and  was  still  studying  them, 
I  often  heard,  and  saw  in  print.  Especially  the  Greek  language 
lost  much  ot  its  strangeness  in  my  eyes,  now  that  I  could 
recognise  its  characters  in  the  German  alphabet.  All  this,  how- 
ever, had  no  immediate  consequence  in  my  life ;  these  things,  -as 
echoes  from  my  youth,  produced  their  effect  upon  me  at  a  later 
time. 

At  this  time,  too,  1  read  all  sorts  of  boys'  books.  The  story 
of  Samuel  Lawill  impressed  me  most  vividly ;  I,  too,  longed  for 
such  a  ring,  which  by  its  warning  pressure  on  my  finger  could 
hinder  my  hand  from  effecting  unworthy  purposes,  and  I  was 
very  angry  with  the  youthful  owner  of  the  ring  in  the  story, 
who  threw  it  away  in  irritation  because  it  pressed  him  right 
hard  at  a  moment  when  he  wished  to  commit  a  passionate 
deed.* 

My  confirmation,  and  the  preparation  for  it,  all  conducted  by 

*  This  story  is  not  now  popular,  but  its  nature  is  sufficiently  indicated  in  the 
text 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  23 

my  uncle,  was  over.  I  had  received  from  it  the  most  impressive 
and  the  most  far-reaching  influence  in  my  whole  life,  and  all  my 
life-threads  found  in  it  their  point  of  union  and  repose.  I  had 
now  to  be  prepared  for  some  business  calling,  and  the  question 
was  raised,  for  which  ?  That  I  should  not  study  at  the  university 
had  already  been  decided  long  before  by  the  express  determina- 
tion of  my  step-mother.  For  since  two  of  my  brothers*  had 
devoted  themselves  to  study,  she  feared  that  the  further  addi- 
tional expense  would  be  too  heavy  a  burden  upon  my  father's 
means.  It  may  be  that  this  intention  had  already  influenced  and 
limited  my  whole  course  of  instruction ;  and  probably  only  the 
little  narrow  circle  of  future  business  aims  had  been  considered ; 
the  eye  had  not  looked  upon  the  boy  as  a  future  man.  Possibly 
from  this  cause  I  was  kept  so  little  to  Latin ;  it  was  enough  if  I 
learnt,  as  our  mode  of  expression  ran,  to  "  state  a  Casus  "  (that 
is,  to  decline  a  noun).  From  my  own  experience  it  was  thus 
shown  to  me  how  eminently  injurious  it  is  in  education  and  in 
instruction  to  consider  only  a  certain  circle  of  future  activities  or 
a  certain  rank  in  life.  The  wearisome  old-fashioned  education 
ad  hoc  (that  is,  for  some  one  special  purpose)  has  always  left 
many  a  noble  power  of  man's  nature  unawakened. 

A  career  in  our  country  frequently  chosen  by  the  worthiest 
and  most  anxious  parents  for  their  sons  is  that  of  a  post  in  the 
Treasury  and  Exchequer.  Aspirants  to  such  a.  post  have  two 
means  of  entering  and  two  starting-points  in  this  career ;  either 
they  become  a  clerk  to  one  of  the  minor  officials  in  the  Treasury 
or  Exchequer,  or  the  personal  servant  of  one  of  the  highest 
officials.  As  my  knowledge  of  writing  and  figures  seemed  to  my 
father  satisfactory  and  sufficient  for  such  a  post,  and  as  he  knew 
well  that  it  might  lead,  not  merely  to  a  life  free  from  pecuniary 
cares,  but  even  to  wealth  and  fortune,  he  chose  this  career  as 
mine.  But  the  minor  Treasury  official  who  might  have  found 
employment  for  such  a  young  man,  showed  various  reasons  why 
he  could  not  or  would  not  as  yet  receive  me  as  a  clerk.  There 
was  something  in  my  nature  which  revolted  against  the  second 
mode  I  have  mentioned  of  entering  this  career ;  something  which 
I  never  afterwards  experienced,  but  which  at  the  time  absolutely 

*  Christoph  and  Traugott. 


24  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

prevented  me  from  choosing  such  a  mode  of  starting  in  my  future 
profession,  and  that  in  spite  of  the  most  alluring  hopes  that  were 
held  out  to  me.  My  lather  meant  well  and  honestly  by  me,  but 
fate  ruled  it  against  him.  Strangely  enough,  it  happened  that  in 
my  later  capacity  of  schoolmaster,  I  became  the  educator  and 
teacher  of  two  of  the  nephews  of  that  very  man  into  whose 
service  my  father  had  meant  to  have  sent  me ;  and  I  hope  to  God 
that  I  have  been  of  greater  service  to  that  family  by  filling  the 
heart  and  brain  of  these  young  people  with  good  and  useful 
notions  than  if  I  had  brushed  the  clothes  and  shoes  of  their 
uncle,  and  spread  his  table  with  savoury  dishes.  In  the  latter 
case,  very  likely  an  externally  easy  and  happy  existence  might 
have  been  mine,  whereas  now  I  wage  a  constant  fight  with 
cares  and  difficulties. 

Suffice  it  to  say,  this  career  was  closed  to  me ;  a  second  was 
proposed  by  my  mother,  but  from  this  my  father  delivered  me  by 
expressing  a  decided  disapproval. 

My  own  desires  and  inclinations  were  now  at  last  consulted. 
I  wanted  to  be  an  agriculturist  in  the  full  meaning  of  the  word ; 
for  I  loved  mountain,  field,  and  forest ;  and  I  heard  also  that  to 
learn  anything  solid  in  this  occupation  one  must  be  well  acquainted 
with  geometry  and  land-surveying.  From  what  I  had  learnt  of 
the  latter  by  snatches  now  and  then,  the  prospect  of  knowing 
more  about  it  delighted  me  much  ;  and  I  cared  not  whether  I 
began  with  forestry,  with  farming,  or  with  geometry  and  land- 
surveying.  My  father  tried  to  find  a  position  for  me;  but  the 
farmers  asked  too  high  a  premium.  Just  at  this  time  he  became 
acquainted  with  a  forester  who  had  also  a  considerable  reputation 
as  land-surveyor  and  valuer.  They  soon  came  to  terms,  and  I 
was  apprenticed  to  this  man  for  two  years,  to  learn  forestry, 
valuing,  geometry,  and  land-survej'ing.  I  was  fifteen  years  and 
a  half  old  when  1  became  an  apprentice  to  the  forester,  on  Mid- 
summer Day  1797. 

It  was  two  days'  journey  from  my  home  to  the  forester's,  for 
his  district  was  not  in  our  country.  The  man  often  gave  me 
proofs  of  his  thorough  and  many-sided  knowledge;  but  he  did 
not  understand  the  art  of  conveying  his  knowledge  to  others, 
especially  because  what  he  knew  he  had  acquired  only  by  dint  of 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  2$ 

actual  experience.*  Further,  some  work  of  timber-floating  f  with 
which  he  had  been  entrusted  hindered  him  from  devoting  to  me 
the  stipulated  time  necessary  for  my  instruction. 

As  soon  as  I  saw  this  quite  slearly,  my  own  activity  of  mind 
urged  me  to  make  use  of  the  really  excellent  books  on  forestry 
and  geometry  which  I  found  lying  to   my  hand.     I   also   made 
acquaintance  with  the  doctor  of  a  little  town  near  by,  who  studied 
natural  science  for  his  amusement ;  and  this  friend  lent  me  books 
on  botany,  through  which  I  learnt  also  about  o*iier  plants  than 
just  those  of  the  forest.     A  great  deal  of  my  timeduring  the 
absence  of  the  forester  (when    I    was  left   quite  to    myself)    I 
devoted  to  making  a  sort  of  map  of  the  neighbourhood  1  lived 
in ;  but  botany  was  my  special  occupation.     My  life  as  forester's 
apprentice  was  a  four-fold  one  :  firstly,  there  was  the  homelier 
and  more  practical  side  of  life ;  then  the  life  spent  with  Nature, 
especially  forest-nature ;  then  also  a  life  of  the  study,  devoted  to 
work  at   mathematics  and   languages ;  and  lastly,  the  time  spent 
in  gaining  a  knowledge  of  plants.     My  chosen  profession  and  the 
other  circumstances  of  my  position  might  have  brought  me  into 
contact    with    many  kinds    of    men ;    but   nevertheless   my  life 
remained    retired   and   solitary.     My   religious   church  life   now 
changed  to  a  religious  communion  with  Nature,  and  in  the  last 
half-year  I  lived   entirely   amongst  and  with   my  plants,  which 
drew  me  towards  them  with  fascination,  notwithstanding  that  as 
yet  I  had  no  sense  of  the  inner  life  of  the  plant  world.     Collecting 
and  drying  specimens  of  plants  was  a  work  I  prosecuted  with  the 
greatest  care.     Altogether  this  time  of  my  life  was  devoted   in 
many  various  ways  to  self-education,  self-instruction,  and  moral 
advancement.     Especially  did  I  love  to  indulge  my  old  habit  of 
self-observation  and  introspection. 

*  In  Germany  a  Forstmann,  or  forester,  if  he  has  studied  forest  cultivation 
in  a  School  of  Forestry,  rises  eventually  to  the  position  of  supervisor  of 
forests  {Forst-meisier).  The  forester  who  does  not  study  remains  in  the  inferior 
position. 

f  In  the  GeiTnan  State  forests,  the  timber,  when  cut  down,  is  frequently  not 
transported  by  road,  but  is  made  to  slide  down  the  mountain-sides  by  timber- 
shoots  into  the  streams  or  rivers  ;  it  is  then  made  up  into  rafts,  and  so  floated 
down  to  its  destination. 


26  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

I  must  mention  yet  another  event  of  the  greatest  importance 
from  the  point  of  view  of  my  inner  life.  An  hour's  walk  from 
where  I  then  lived  was  a  small  country  town.  A  company  of 
strolling  actors  arrived  there,  and  played  in  the  prince's  castle 
in  the  town.  After  1  had  seen  one  of  their  performances,  hardly 
any  of  those  which  followed  passed  without  my  attendance.. 
These  performances  made  a  deep  and  lively  impression  upon  me,, 
and  this  the  more  that  I  felt  as  if  my  soul  at  last  received  nourish- 
ment for  which  it  had  long  hungered.  The  impressions  thus 
gained  lasted  so  much  the  longer,  and  had  so  much  the  greater 
influence  on  my  self-culture,  in  that  after  each  performance  my 
hour's  walk  home  by  dark  or  in  the  starlight  allowed  me  to 
recapitulate  what  I  had  heard,  and  so  to  digest  the  meaning  of  the 
play.  I  remember  especially  how  deeply  a  performance  of. 
Ififland's  Huntsmen  moved  me,  and  how  it  inspired  me  with 
firm  moral  resolutions,  which  I  imprinted  deep  in  my  mind  under 
the  light  of  the  stars.  My  interest  in  the  play  made  me  seek 
acquaintance  with  the  actors,  and  especially  with  one  of  them,  an 
earnest  young  man  who  attracted  my  attention,  and  to  whom  I 
spoke  about  his  profession.  I  congratulated  him  on  being  a  mem- 
ber of  such  a  company,  able  to  call  up  such  ennobling  sentiments 
in  the  human  soul ;  perhaps  even  expressed  a  wish  that  I  could 
become  a  member  of  such  a  company.  Then  the  honest  fellow 
described  the  profession  of  an  actor  as  a  brilliant,  deceitful 
misei-y,  and  confessed  to  me  that  he  had  been  only  forced  by 
necessity  to  adopt  this  profession,  and  that  he  was  soon  about 
to  abandon  it.  Once  again  I  learned  by  this  to  divide  cause  from 
effect,  internal  from  external  things.  My  visits  to  the  play 
brought  upon  me  a  most  unpleasant  experience,  for  my  father, 
when  I  spoke  to  him  without  concealment  of  my  playgoing, 
reproached  me  \cxy  bitterly  for  it.  He  looked  upon  my  conduct 
as  deserving  the  highest  punishment,  which  was  in  absolute 
contradiction  with  my  own  view  ;  for  I  placed  the  benefit  I  had 
derived  from  my  attendance  at  the  play  side  by  side  with  what 
I  had  received  by  my  attendance  at  church,  and  expressed  some- 
thing of  the  kind  to  my  father.  As  often  happened  in  later  life, 
so  also  on  this  occasion  it  was  my  eldest  brother  who  was  the 
mediator  between  my  father  and  myself.. 


Autobiography  oj  Froebel.  2^ 

On  Midsummer  Day  1799  my  apprenticeship  came  to  an  end. 
The  forester,  who  could  now  have  made  my  practical  knowledge 
of  service  to  himself,  wished  to  keep  me  another  year.  But  I  had 
by  this  time  acquired  higher  views ;  I  wished  to  study  mathe- 
matics and  botany  more  thoroughly,  and  I  was  not  to  be  kept 
back  from  my  purpose.  When  my  apprenticeship  was  over  I 
left  him,  and  returned  to  my  father's  house. 

My  master  knew  well  that  he  had  not  done  his  duty  towards 
me,  and  with  this  probably  humiliating  consciousness  before  him, 
and  in  spite  of  the  thoroughly  satisfactory  testimonial  that  he 
gave  me,  he  committed  a  very  mean  action  against  me.  He  did 
not  know  anything  about  my  private  study  ;  for  instance,  my  com- 
pletely working  through  some  elementary  mathematical  books,  ■ 
which  I  had  found  myself  quite  well  able  to  understand.  Besides, 
he  was  dissatisfied  that  I  would  not  stay  another  year  with  him. 
He  therefore  sent  a  letter  to  my  father,  in  which  he  complained 
bitterly  of  my  conduct,  and  shifted  the  blame  of  my  ignorance 
of  my  calling  entirely  on  to  my  shoulders.  This  letter  actually 
arrived  at  home  before  I  did  ;  and  my  father  sent  it  on  to  my 
eldest  brother,  who  was  minister  in  a  village  through  which  I  had 
to  pass  on  my  way  home.  Soon  after  I  reached  my  brother's 
house  he  communicated  to  me  the  contents  of  this  inculpatory 
letter.  I  cleared  myself  by  exposing  the  unconscientious  behaviour 
of  my  master,  and  by  showing  my  private  work.  I  then  wrote 
a  reply  to  my  master,  clearly  refuting  all  his  accusations,  and 
exhibiting  on  the  other  hand  his  behaviour  towards  me  ;  and 
with  this  I  satisfied  my  father  and  my  brother.  But'  the  latter 
reproached  me  for  having  suffered  wrongdoing  so  long  without 
complaint.  To  that  I  gave  the  simple  answer,  that  my  father,  at 
the  beginning  of  my  apprenticeship,  had  told  me  not  to  come 
to  him  with  any  complaint,  as  I  should  never  be  listened  to,  but 
should  be  considered  as  wrong  beforehand.  My  brother,  who 
knew  my  father's  severity  and  his  views  on  such  points,  was 
silent.  But  my  mother  saw  in  one  declaration  of  the  forester  the 
confirmation  of  her  own  opinion  about  me.  The  forester  declared, 
that  if  ever  anything  was  made  of  me,  the  same  good  fortune 
might  be  told  of  the  first-comer  without  further  trouble,  and  my 
mother  assented  heartily  to  his  opinion. 


28  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 


Thus  disappeared  once  more  the  light,  the  sunshine,  which  had 
gladdened  me  with  its  warmth,  especially  in  the  more  recent  part 
of  my  life.  The  wings  of  my  mind,  which  had  begun  to  flutter  of 
themselves,  were  again  bound,  and  my  life  once  more  appeared 
all  cold  and  harsh  before  me.  Then  it  happened  that  my  father 
had  to  send  some  money  to  my  brother  (Traugott),  who  was 
studying  medicine  in  Jena.  The  matter  pressed  ;  so,  as  I  had 
nothing  to  do,  it  was  decided  that  I  should  be  the  messenger. 

When  I  reached  Jena  I  was  seized  by  the  stirring  intellectual 
life  of  the  place,  and  I  longed  to  remain  there  a  little  time.  Eight 
weeks  of  the  summer  half-year's  session  of  1799  yet  remained. 
My  brother  wrote  to  my  father  that  I  could  fill  that  time  usefully 
and  profitably  in  Jena,  and  in  consequence  of  this  letter  I  was 
permitted  to  stay.  I  took  lessons  in  map  and  plan-drawing,  and 
I  devoted  all  the  time  I  had  to  the  work.  At  Michaelmas  I  went 
home  with  my  brother,  and  my  step-mother  observed  that  I 
could  now  fairly  say  I  had  passed  through  the  university.  But 
I  thought  differently  ;  my  intelligence  and  my  soul  had  been 
stimulated  in  many  ways,  and  I  expressed  my  wish  to  my  father 
to  be  allowed  to  study  finance  there,  thus  returning  to  my  previous 
career.  My  father  was  willing  to  give  his  permission  if  I  could 
tell  him  how  to  find  the  means.  I  possessed  a  very  small  property 
inherited  from  my  mother,  but  I  thought  it  would  be  insufficient. 
However,  after  having  conferred  with  my  brother,  I  talked  it  over 
with  my  father.  I  was  still  a  minor,  and  therefore  had  to  ask 
the  consent  of  my  trustee  to  realise  my  property ;  but  as  soon  as 
I  had  obtained  this  I  went  as  a  student  to  Jena,  in  1799.  I  was 
then  seventeen  years  and  a  half  old. 

A  testimonial  from  my  father  attesting  my  capacity  for  the 
curriculum  procured  me  matriculation  without  difficulty.  My 
matriculation  certificate  called  me  a  student  of  philosophy,  which 
seemed  very  strange,  because  I  had  set  before  me  as  the  object 
of  my  studies  practical  knowledge ;  and  as  to  philosoph}',  of 
which  I  had  so  often  heard,  I  had  formed  a  very  high  idea  of  it. 
The  word  made  a  great  impression  upon  my  dreamy,  easily- 
excited,  and  receptive  nature.  Although  the  impression  dis- 
appeared almost  as  soon  as  conceived,  it  gave,  however,  higher 
and  unexpected  relations  to  my  studies. 


Autobiography  oj  Froebel.  2g> 

The  lectures  I  heard  were  only  those  which  promised  to  be 
useful  in  the  career  I  had  now  again  embraced.  I  heard  lectures 
on  applied  mathematics,  arithmetic,  algebra,  geometry,  mineralogy, 
botany,  natural  history,  physics,  chemistry,  accounts,  cultivation 
of  forest  trees  and  management  of  forests,  architecture,  house- 
building, and  land-surveying.  I  continued  topographical  drawing. 
I  heard  nothing  purely  theoretical  except  mathematics ;  and 
of  philosophical  teaching  and  thought  I  learnt  only  so  much  as  the 
intercourse  of  university  life  brought  with  it ;  but  it  was  precisely 
through  this  intercourse  that  I  received  in  various  ways  a  many- 
sided  intellectual  impulse.  I  usually  grasped  what  had  been 
taught ;  the  more  thoroughly  since,  through  my  previous  life,  I 
had  become  well  acquainted  with  the  principal  subjects,  and 
already  knew  their  relation  to  practical  work. 

Some  of  the  lectures  were  almost  easy  for  me — for  instance, 
those  on  mathematics.  I  have  always  been  able  to  perceive  with 
ease  and  pleasure  relations  of  geometrical  figures  and  of  planes  ; . 
so  that  it  seemed  inexplicable  to  me  that  every  farmer  should 
not  be  equally  capable  of  understanding  them.  This  I  had  said 
before  to  my  brother,  who  tried  to  give  me  an  explanation  ;  but 
I  did  not  yet  grasp  it,  I  had  expected  I  don't  know  exactly  what,, 
but  certainly  something  higher,  something  grandiose  ;  very  likely 
I  had  expected  something  with  more  life  in  it.  The  mathematical 
course,  therefore,  at  first  seemed  to  me  unimportant ;  but  later  on 
I  found  that  I,  also,  could  not  follow  every  detail.  However,  I 
did  not  think  much  of  this,  because  I  readily  understood  the 
general  meaning,  and  I  said  to  myself  that  particular  cases  would 
not  cause  me  any  mental  fatigue  if  I  found  it  necessary  to  learn 
them. 

The  lectures  of  my  excellent  teacher  were  not  so  useful  to  me 
as  they  might  have  been,  if  I  could  have  seen  in  the  course  of 
instruction  and  in  its  progress  somewhat  more  of  necessary  con- 
nection and  less  of  arbitrary  arrangement.  This  want  of  necessary 
connection  was  the  reason  of  the  immediate  dislike  I  always  took 
to  every  course  of  instruction.  I  felt  it  even  in  pure  mathematics,, 
still  more  was  it  the  case  in  applied  mathematics,  and  most  of  all 
in  experimental  ph>'sics.  Here  it  seemed  to  me  as  if  everything 
were  arranged  in  aroitrary  series,   so  that  from  the  very  first 


30  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

I  found  this  study  a  fatigue.  The  experiments  failed  to  arrest 
my  attention.  I  desired  and  sought  after  some  inner  connection 
between  the  phenomena,  deduced  from  and  explained  by  some 
simple  root  principles.  But  that  was  the  very  point  withheld 
from  me.  Mathematical  demonstrations  came  like  halting 
messengers  ;  they  only  became  clear  to  the  mind's  eye  when  the 
truth  to  be  demonstrated  lay  before  me  already  in  all  its  living 
strength.  On  the  other  hand,  my  attention  was  riveted  by  the 
study  of  gravitation,  of  force,  of  weight,  which  were  living 
things  to  me,  because  of  their  evident  relation  to  actual  facts. 

In  mechanics  (natural  philosophy)  I  could  not  understand  why 
so  many  of  the  so-called  "  mechanical  powers  "  were  assumed, 
and  why  several  of  them  were  not  reduced  to  cases  of  the  inclined 
plane. 

In  mineralogy  my  previous  education  had  left  many  gaps 
unfilled,  especially  as  regards  the  powers  of  observation.  I  was 
fond  of  mineral  specimens,  and  gave  myself  much  trouble  to  com- 
prehend their  several  properties ;  but  in  consequence  of  my 
defective  preparation  I  found  insuperable  difficulties  in  my  way, 
and  perceived  thereby  that^  neglect  is  neither  quickly  nor  lightly 
to  be  repaired.  The  most  assiduous  practice  in  observation  failed 
to  make  my  sight  so  quick  and  so  accurate  as  it  ought  to  have 
been  for  my  purpose.  At  that  time  I  failed  to  apprehend  the  fact 
of  my  deficient  quickness  of  sight ;  it  ought  to  have  taught  me 
much,  but  I  was  not  prepared  to  learn  the  lesson. 

Chemistry  fascinated  me.  The  excellent  teacher  (Gottling) 
always  demonstrated  the  true  connection  of  the  phenomena  under 
consideration  ;  and  the  theory  of  chemical  affinity  took  strong  hold 
upon  me. 

Note-taking  at  these  lectures  was  a  thing  I  never  thought  of 
doing ;  for  that  which  I  understood  forthwith  became  a  part 
of  me,  and  that  which  I  failed  to  understand  seemed  to  me  not 
worth  writing  down.  I  have  often  felt  sorry  for  it  since.  But 
as  regards  this  point,  I  have  always  had  through  my  whole  life 
the  perfectly  clear  conviction  that  when  I  had  mastered  a  whole 
subject  in  its  intimate  relations  I  could  go  back  upon,  and  then 
understand,  details  which  at  the  time  of  hearing  had  been  unin- 
telligible to  me. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  3 1 

In  botany  I  had  a  clear-sighted,  kind-hearted  teacher  (Batsch). 
His  natural  system  of  botany*  gave  me  great  satisfaction,  although 
I  had  always  a  painful  perception  of  how  much  still  remained  for 
him  to  classify.  However,  my  view  of  Nature  as  one  whole 
became  by  his  means  substantially  clearer,  and  my  love  for  the 
observation  of  Nature  in  detail  became  more  animated,  I  shall 
always  think  of  him  with  gratitude.  He  was  also  my  teacher  in 
natural  history.  Two  principles  that  he  enunciated  seized  upon 
me  with  special  force,  and  seemed  to  me  valid.  The  first  was 
the  conception  of  the  mutual  relationship  of  all  animals,  extending 
like  a  network  in  all  directions ;  and  the  second  was  that  the 
skeleton  or  bony  framework  of  fishes,  birds,  and  men  was  one 
and  the  same  in  plan,  and  that  the  skeleton  of  man  should  be 
considered  as  the  fundamental  type  which  Nature  strove  to  pro- 
duce even  in  the  lower  forms  of  creation. t  I  was  always  highly 
delighted  with  his  expositions,  for  they  suggested  ideas  to  me 
which  bore  fruit  both  in  my  inteUigence  and  in  my  emotional; 
nature.  Invariably,  w^henever  I  grasped  the  inter-connection  and 
unity  of  phenomena,  I  felt  the  longings  of  my  spirit  and  of  my 
soul  were  fulfilled. 

I  easily  understood  the  other  courses  I  attended,  and  was  able 
to  take  a  com.prehensive  glance  over  the  subjects  of  which  they 
treated.  I  had  seen  building  going  on,  and  had  myself  assisted 
in  building,  in  planting,  etc. ;  here,  therefore,  I  could  take  notes, 
and  write  complete  and  satisfactory  memoranda  of  the  lectures. 

My  stay  in  Jena  Lad  taught  me  much ;  by  no  means  so  much 
as  it  ought  to  have    taught   me,    but  yet  I  had  won  for  mj'self 


*  Jussieu's  natural  system  of  botany  may  possibly  be  here  alluded  to.  The 
celebrated  "  Genera  Plantarum"  appeared  in  1798,  and  Froebel  was  at  Jena 
in  1799.  On  the  other  hand,  A.  J.  G.  Batsch,  Froebefs  teacher,  professor 
at  the  university  since  1789,  had  published  in  1787-8  his  "  Anleitung  zur 
Kentniss  und  Geschichte  der  Pflanzen,"  2  vols.  We  have  not  seen  this  work. 
Batsch  also  published  an  "Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Natural  History," 
which  reached  a  second  edition  in  1805. 

t  In  justice  to  Froebel  and  his  teacher,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 
tneory  of  evolution  was  not  as  yet  formed,  and  that  those  who  dimly  sought 
after  some  explanation  of  the  uniformity  of  the  vertebrate  plan,  which  they 
■observed,  were  but  all  too  likely  to  be  led  astray. 


32  Autobiography  oj  Froebel. 

a  standpoint,  both  subjective  and  objective.  I  could  already 
perceive  unity  in  diversity,  the  correlation  of  forces,  the  inter- 
connection of  all  living  things,  life  in  matter,  and  the  principles 
of  physics  and  biology. 

One  thing  more  I  have  to  bring  forward  from  this  period.  Up 
till  now  my  life  had  met  with  no  sympathetic  recognition  other 
than  the  esteem  which  I  had  enjoyed  of  the  country  physician 
during  my  apprenticeship — he  who  encouraged  me  to  study 
natural  science,  and  smoothed  away  for  me  many  a  difficulty. 
But  now  such  sympathy  was  destined  to  offer  itself  as  a  means  of 
education  and  improvement.  For  there  were  in  Jena  just  then 
two  scientific  associations,  one  for  natural  history  and  botany,  the 
other  for  mineralogy,  as  it  was  then  called.  Many  of  the  young 
students,  who  had  shown  living  interest  and  done  active  work 
in  natural  science,  were  invited  to  become  members  by  the 
President,  and  this  elevating  pleasure  was  also  offered  to  me.  At 
the  moment  I  certainly  possessed  few  qualifications  for  member- 
ship ;  the  most  I  could  say  was  that  my  faculty  for  arranging 
and  classifying  might  be  made  of  some  use  in  the  Natural  History 
Society,  and  this,  indeed,  actually  came  to  pass.  Although  my 
admission  to  this  society  had  no  great  effect  upon  my  later  life, 
because  it  was  dissolved  at  the  death  of  its  founder,  and  I  did  not 
keep  up  my  acquaintance  with  the  other  members  afterwards, 
yet  it  awakened  that  yearning  towards  higher  scientific  knowledge 
which  now  began  to  make  itself  forcibly  felt  within  me. 

During  my  residence  at  the  university  I  lived  in  a  very  retired 
and  economical  way;  my  imperfect  education,  my  disposition, 
and  the  state  of  my  purse  alike  contributing  to  this.  I  seldom 
appeared  at  places  of  public  resort,  and  in  my  reserved  way  I 
made  my  brother  (Traugott)  my  only  companion  ;  he  was  studying 
medicine  in  Jena  during  the  first  year  of  my  residence  there.* 

*  The  text  (Lange,  Berlin,  1862)  says  7)ieincn  iiltesten  Briidcr,  that  is,  "of 
my  eldest  brother  ;  "  but  this  is  quite  an  error,  whether  of  Froebel  or  of  Herr 
Lange  we  cannot  at  present  say.  As  we  have  already  said  in  a  footnote  on 
p.  3,  August  was  the  eldest  brother  of  PViedrich,  and  Christoph  was  the  eldest 
then  living.  Traugott,  who  was  at  Jena  with  Friedrich,  was  his  next  older 
brother,  youngest  of  the  first  family,  except  only  Friedrich  himself.  It  is 
Traugott  who  is  meant  in  this  passage. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  33 

The  theatre  alone,  of  which  I  was  still  passionately  fond,  I  visited 
now  and  then.  In  the  second  year  of  this  first  studentship,  in 
spite  of  my  quiet  life,  I  found  myself  in  an  awkward  position.  It 
began,  indeed,  with  my  entrance  into  the  university,  but  did  not 
come  to  a  head  till  my  third  half-year.  When  I  went  to  the 
university,  my  father  gave  me  a  bank  draft  for  a  small  amount 
to  cover  my  expenses,  not  only  for  the  first  half-year,  but  for  the 
entire  reside«ce,  I  think.  My  brother,  who,  as  I  said,  was  with 
me  at  Jena  for  the  first  year,  wished  me  to  lend  him  part  of  my 
allowance,  all  of  which  I  did  not  then  require,  whereas  he  was  for 
the  moment  in  difficulties.  He  hoped  soon  to  be  able  to  repay 
me  the  money.  I  gladly  gave  him  the  .greater  part  of  my  little 
draft ;  but  unfortunately  I  could  not  get  the  money  back,  and 
therefore  found  myself  in  greater  and  greater  difficulties.  My 
position  became  terribly  urgent ;  my  small  allowance  had  come 
to  an  end  by  the  close  of  the  first  year,  but  I  could  not  bring 
myself  to  leave  the  university,  especially  now  that  a  yearning  for 
scientific  knowledge  had  seized  me,  and  I  hoped  for  great  things 
from  my  studies.  Besides,  I  thought  that  my  father  might  be 
induced  to  support  me  at  the  university  another  half-year. 

My  father  would  hear  nothing  of  this  so  far  as  he  was  con- 
cerned ;  and  my  trustee  would  not  agree  to  the  conditions  offered 
by  my  father  (to  cover  an  advance) ;  so  I  had  to  pay  the  penalty 
of  their  obstinacy. 

Towards  the  end  of  my  third  half-year  the  urgency  of  my 
difficulties  increased.  I  owed  the  keeper  of  an  eating-house  (for 
meals)  thirty  thalers,  if  I  am  not  mistaken.  As  this  man  had 
caused  me  to  be  summoned  for  payment  several  times  before  the 
Senate  of  the  University,  and  I  had  never  been  able  to  pay,  and 
as  he  had  even  addressed  my  father,  only  to  receive  from  him 
a  sharp  refusal  to  entertain  the  matter,  I  was  threatened  with 
imprisonment  in  the  case  of  longer  default  of  payment.  And 
I  actually  had  to  submit  to  this  punishment.  My  step-mother 
inflamed  the  displeasure  of  my  father,  and  rejoiced  at  his  inflexi- 
bility. My  trustee,  who  still  had  the  disposal  of  some  property 
of  mine,  could  have  helped  me,  but  did  not,  because  the  letter 
of  the  law  was  against  any  interference  from  his  side.  Each  one 
hoped  by  the  continuance  of  my  sorry  plight  to  break  the  stub- 

1 


34  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

bornness  of  the  other.  I  served  as  scapegoat  to  the  caprices 
of  the  obstinate  couple,  and  languished  as  such  nine  weeks  long 
in  the  university  prison  at  Jena.*  At  last  my  father  consented  to 
advance  me  money  on  my  formally  abandoning,  before  the 
university  board,  all  claim  on  his  property  in  the  shape  of  inherit- 
ance ;  and  so,  in  the  end,  I  got  free. 

In  spite  of  the  gloom  into  which  my  position  as  a  prisoner 
plunged  me,  the  time  of  my  arrest  was  not  utterly  barren.  My 
late  endeavours  towards  scientific  knowledge  had  made  me  more 
and  more  conscious  of  my  need  of  a  solid  foundation  in  my  know- 
ledge of  Latin ;  therefore  I  now  tried  to  supply  deficiencies  to  the 
extent  of  my  ability,  and  with  the  help  of  a  friend.  It  was 
extremely  hard  to  me,  this  working  my  way  through  the  dead 
and  fragmentary  teaching  of  an  elementary  grammar.  It  always 
seemed  to  me  as  if  the  mere  outer  acquisition  of  a  language  could 
but  little  help  forward  my  true  inner  desire  for  knowledge, 
which  was  deeply  in  earnest,  and  was  the  result  of  my  own  free 
choice.  But  wherever  the  knowledge  of  language  linked  itself 
to  definite  external  impressions,  and  I  was  able  to  perceive  its 
connection  with  facts,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  scientific  nomencla- 
ture of  botany,  I  could  quickly  make  myself  master  of  it.  This 
peculiarity  of  mind  passed  by  me  unnoticed  at  the  time ;  I  knew 
and  understood  too  little,  nay,  indeed,  almost  nothing  of  myself 
as  yet,  even  as  regards  the  actions  of  my  every-day  life. 

A  second  occupation  of  this  prison  period  was  the  preparation 
of  an  exercise  (or  academical  thesis)  in  geometry,  which  I  under- 
took that  I  might  the  sooner  obtain  an  independent  position  in 
some  profession. 

Thirdly,  I  studied  Winckelmann's  "Letters  on  Art."  Through 
them  some  germs  of  higher  artistic  feeling  may  have  been 
awakened  within  me  ;  for  I  examined  the  engravings  which  the 
work  contains  with  intense  delight.  I  could  quite  perceive  the 
glow  of  pleasure  that  they  aroused,  but  at  the  time  I  took  little 


*  "  In  career ;"  that  is,  in  the  prison  of  the  university,  where  in  the  last  resort 
students  who  fail  to  comply  with  university  regulations  are  confined.  The 
"career"  still  exists  in  German  universities.  It  has  of  course  nothing  to  do 
with  the  ordinary  prison  of  the  town. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  35 

account  of  this  influence,  and  indeed  the  feeling  for  art  altogether 
was  late  in  developing  itself  in  me.  When  I  now  glance  over 
the  earlier  and  later,  the  greater  and  smaller,  artistic  emotions 
Avhich  have  swayed  me,  and  observe  their  source  and  direction, 
I  see  that  it  was  with  arts  (sculpture  as  well  as  music)  as  it  was 
with  languages — I  never  succeeded  in  accomplishing  the  outward 
acquisition  of  them  :  yet  I  now  feel  vividly  that  I,  too,  might 
have  been  capable  of  something  in  art  had  I  had  an  artistic 
education. 

Further,  there  came  into  my  hands,  during  the  time  of  my 
imprisonment,  a  bad  translation  of  an  abridgment  of  the 
Zendavesta.  The  discovery  [in  these  ancient  Persian  Scriptures] 
of  similar  life-truths  to  our  own,  and  yet  coupled  with  a  quite 
separate  religious  standpoint  from  ours,  aroused  my  attention,  and 
gave  some  feeling  of  universality  to  my  life  and  thought ;  this, 
however,  disappeared  as  quickly  as  it  had  come. 

By  the  beginning  of  the  summer  term  in  180 1  I  was  at  length 
set  free  from  arrest.  I  at  once  left  Jena  and  my  academical 
career,  and  returned  to  my  father's  house.  I  was  just  nineteen 
years  old.  It  was  but  natural  that  I  should  enter  my  parents' 
house  with  heavy  heart,  overclouded  soul,  and  oppressed  mind. 
But  spring  warmed  and  awakened  all  nature  once  more,  and 
recalled  to  life,  too,  my  slumbering  desire  for  better  things. 

As  yet  I  had  busied  myself  but  little  with  German  literature, 
and  the  names  of  Schiller,  Goethe,  Wieland,  and  the  rest  I  now, 
for  the  first  time,  began  to  learn.  In  this,  too,  it  was  with'  me 
as  in  so  many  other  things ;  any  mental  influence  that  came 
before  me  I  had  either  to  fully  interweave  with  my  inner  life, 
or  else  altogether  to  forego  its  acquisition. 

With  this  peculiarity  of  temperament,  I  could  master  only  a 
rather  restricted  amount  of  mental  material.  My  father's  library 
was  once  more  ransacked.  I  found  not  much  that  was  of  any 
use  to  me,  for  it  contained  chiefly  theological  works ;  but  I  seized 
with  the  greatest  enjoyment  on  a  book  which  had  come  out  some 
ten  years  before  in  Gotha,  a  general  view  of  all  the  sciences  and 
fine  arts  in  their  various  ramifications,  with  a  short  sketch  of  the 
object  of  the  several  sciences  and  of  the  literature  of  each  de- 
partment.    The  arrangement  was  based  upon  the  usual  division 


36  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

of  the  faculties,  but  it  served  to  give  me  a  general  outlook,  long^ 
desired,  over  the  whole  of  human  knowledge,  and  I  was  right 
glad  to  have  found  this  "  Mappe  du  monde  litteraire  " — for  that 
was  its  title.  I  resolved  to  turn  this  book  to  the  best  advantage 
I  could,  and  set  about  putting  my  resolution  into  practice.  In 
order  to  make  a  collection  of  comprehensive  extracts  of  scientific 
matters  from  the  several  periodicals  received  by  my  father 
(who  shared  for  that  purpose  in  a  joint  subscription  with  other 
preachers  and  educated  people),  I  had  already  begun  a  sort  of 
diary.  The  form  of  this  journal  was  shapeless — everything  was 
put  down  as  it  came,  one  thing  after  the  other ;  and  thereby  the 
use  of  it  all  was  rendered  very  inconvenient.  Now,  however,  I 
perceived  the  value  of  division  according  to  a  settled  plan,  and 
soon  hit  upon  a  scheme  of  procedure. 

I  aimed  at  collecting  all  that  seemed  worthy  to  be  known,  all 
that  was  necessary  for  cultured  men  in  general,  and  for  myself  in 
my  own  calling  in  particular ;  and  this  rich  treasure  was  to  be 
brought  out  under  favourable  circumstances,  or  whenever  need 
was,  from  its  storehouse.  Also  I  desired  to  acquire  a  general 
idea  of  those  subjects  which  the  craving  for  knowledge,  growing 
ever  more  and  more  sharp  within  my  soul,  was  always  urging 
me  thoroughly  to  work  through  over  again.  I  felt  happy  in  my 
work  ;  and  I  had  already  been  chained  to  my  task  for  several  days, 
from  early  morning  till  late  at  night,  in  my  little  distant  chamber 
with  its  iron-barred  windows,  when  my  father  suddenly  and 
unexpectedly  walked  into  the  room.  He  looked  over  what  I  had 
done,  and  remarked  the  quantity  of  paper  used  over  it,  which 
indeed  was  not  small.  Upon  this  cursory  inspection  he  held  my 
work  for  a  foolish  waste  of  time  and  paper ;  and  it  would  have 
been  all  over  with  my  labour  of  love  for  that  time,  if  my  brother 
(Christoph),  who  had  so  often  stood  as  protector  by  my  side,  had 
not  just  then  been  on  a  visit  with  us.  He  had  become  the 
minister  of  a  place  which  lay  a  few  hours'  journey  from  Ober-' 
weissbach,  and  at  this  moment  was  staying  with  my  parents. 
My  father  at  once  told  him  of  what  he  considered  my  useless, 
if  not  indeed  injurious  occupation  ;  but  my  brother  saw  it  differ- 
ently. I  ventured,  therefore,  to  continue,  with  the  silent  permis- 
sion of  my  father.     And  indeed  the  work  proved  of  actual  service 


Autobiography  oj  Froehel.  37 

to  me,  for  it  brought  a  certain  order,  breadth,  and  firmness  into 
my  ideas  which  had  the  most  beneficial  effect  upon  me. 

My  father  now  strove  to  procure  me  a  settled  position  in  my 
■chosen  calling ;  or  at  all  events  to  provide  some  active  work 
which  would  bring  me  into  nearer  connection  with  it.  And  for 
this  purpose  a  fortunate  opportunity  soon  offered.  Some  of  my 
father's  relatives  had  property  in  the  district  of  Hildburghausen, 
managed  by  a  steward.  The  friendly  footing  on  which  my  father 
stood  with  these  relatives  permitted  me  to  study  practical  farming 
under  this  steward.  There  I  took  part  in  all  the  ordinary  farm- 
ing occupations.  These,  however,  did  not  attract  me  greatly, 
and  I  ought  to  have  at  once  discovered  what  an  unsuitable  career 
I  had  chosen,  if  I  had  but  understood  my  own  nature. 

JThe  thing  that  most  painfully  occupied  my  mind  at  this  time 
was  the  absence  of  cordial  understanding  between  me  and  my 
father.  I  At  the  same  time  I  could  not  help  esteeming  and  honour- 
ing hinl.  Notwithstanding  his  advanced  age  he  was  still  as  ocrong 
■and  as  healthy  in  body  as  in  mind,  penetrating  in  speech  and 
counsel,  vigorous  in  fulfilment  and  actual  work,  earnest,  nay,  hard, 
in  address.  He  had  a  firm,  strong  will,  and  at  the  same  time 
was  filled  with  noble,  self-sacrificing  endeavour.  He  never  shirked 
skirmish  nor  battle  in  the  cause  of  what  he  deemed  the  better 
part ;  he  carried  his  pen  into  action,  as  a  soldier  carries  his  sword, 
(for  the  true,  the  good,  and  the  right.  I  saw  that  my  father  was 
growing  old  and  was  drawing  near  the  grave,  and  it  made  me 
sorry  to  feel  that  I  was  yet  a  stranger  to  such  a  father.  I  loved 
him,  and  felt  how  much  good  resulted  from  that  love ;  so  I  took 
the  resolution  to  write  to  my  father,  and  by  letter  to  show  him 
my  true  nature,  so  far  as  I  could  understand  myself.  Long  did  I 
revolve  this  letter  in  my  mind ;  never  did  I  feel  strength  nor 
courage  to  write  it.  Meanwhile  a  letter  called  me  back  home  in 
November,  after  I  had  been  some  months  engaged  on  the  estate. 
I  was  called  upon  to  help  my  father,  now  quite  weak  and  almost 
bedridden  ;  at  all  events  I  could  assist  him  in  his  correspondence. 
Family  and  other  cares  and  the  activities  of  life  absorbed  my 
whole  time.  What  I  meant  to  have  done  in  my  letter  now 
happily  became  possible  in  speech  from  man  to  man,  in  glances 
from  eye  to  eye.     My  father  was  occupied  by  cares  for  my  future 


38  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

prospects  up  till  the  end.  He  died  in  February  1802.  May  his 
enlightened  spirit  look  down  full  of  peace  and  blessing  upon  me 
as  I  write ;  may  he  now  be  content  with  that  son  who  so  loved 
him  ! 

I  now  stood  in  every  respect  my  own  master,  and  might  decide 
the  direction  of  my  future  life  for  myself,  according  to  the  circum- 
stances which  lay  around  me.  With  this  intention  I  once  more 
left  the  paternal  roof  at  Easter,  to  undertake  the  post  of  clerk  in 
the  Office  of  Woods  and  Forests  which  formed  one  part  of  the 
general  administration  (divided  into  Treasury,  Woods  and  Forests, 
and  Tithe  departments)  of  the  as  yet  episcopal  territory  of  Bam- 
berg.* My  district  lay  amidst  unusual  and  lovely  scenery ;  my 
duties  were  light,  and  when  they  were  over  I  was  free  to  roam 
in  the  neighbourhood,  now  doubly  beautiful  in  the  springtime, 
to  live  out  my  life  in  freedom,  and  gain  strength  for  mind  and  soul. 

Thus  once  again  I  lived  much  out  of  doors  and  in  companion- 
ship with  Nature.  My  chief  was  proud  of  the  possession  of  a 
considerable  library,  of  which  I  made  good  use  ;  and  in  this  manner 
many  of  the  publications  then  issuing  frornuthe  press,  and  treating 
of  matters  connected  with  the  occupation  which  I  had  chosen, 
passed  through  my  hands,  as  well  as  those  on  other  subjects. 
I  was  especially  attracted  by  some  volumes  which  contained 
aphorisms,  thoughts,  and  observations  on  conduct,  selected  from 
ancient  and  modern  writers  and  thinkers.  My  character  grew  upon 
and  entwined  itself  around  these  aphorisms,  which  I  could  easily 
glance  over,  and  as  easily  retain,  and,  more  than  all,  which  I 
could  weave  into  my  own  life  and  thoughts,  and  by  which  I  could 
examine  my  conduct.  I  made  extracts  of  those  which  were  in 
closest  accord  with  my  inner  life,  and  bore  them  always  about  my 
person. 

Amidst  these  surroundings  my  life  contained  many  elements  of 
growth.  Although  my  chief,  as  well  as  his  family,  was  a  strong 
Roman  Catholic,  he  chose  a  (Protestant)  private  tutor  recom- 
mended to  him  by  Professor  Carus.      This  gentleman  had  many 


*  The  Prince-Bishop  of  Bamberg  shared  in  the  general  Napoleonic  earth- 
quake. The  domain  of  the  bishopric  went  to  Bavaria  ultimately,  the  title  alone 
remaining  to  the  Church. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  39 

excellent  qualities,  so  that  we  soon  became  great  friends.  We 
had  also  both  of  us  the  pleasure  of  being  acquainted  with  some 
highly-cultured  people,  the  families  of  the  physician,  of  the 
minister,  and  of  the  schoolmaster  in  the  neighbouring  Protestant 
village,  which  was  as  yet  still  a  fief  of  the  Empire.*  My  friend 
the  tutor  was  a  young  man  quite  out  of  the  common,  with  an 
actively  inquiring  mind  ;  especially  fond  of  making  plans  for  wide- 
stretching  travels,  and  comprehensive  schemes  of  education.  Our 
intercourse  and  our  life  together  were  very  confidential  and  open, 
for  the  subjects  he  cared  for  were  those  dear  to  me ;  but  we  were 
of  diametrically  opposite  natures.  He  was  a  man  of  scholastic 
training,  and  I  had  been  deficiently  educated.  He  was  a  youth 
who  had  plunged  into  strife  with  the  world  and  society;  my 
thought  was  how  to  live  in  peace  with  myself  and  all  men.  Be- 
sides, our  outward  lives  bore  such  diff"erent  aspects  that  a  truly 
intimate  friendship  could  not  exist  between  us.  Nevertheless  our 
very  contrasts  bound  us  more  closely  together  than  we  deemed. 

Practical  land-surveying  at  this  time  chiefly  interested  me,  for 
it  at  once  satisfied  my  love  for  out-of-doors  life,  and  fully  occupied 
my  intelligence.  But  the  everlasting  scribbling  which  now  fell  to 
my  share  I  could  not  long  endure,  in  spite  of  my  otherwise  pleasant 
life. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1803  I  left  my  situation  and  went  to 
Bamberg,  feeling  sure  that  the  political  changes  by  which  Bamberg 
had  been  transferred  to  Bavaria,  and  the  general  survey  of  the 
district  which  was  therefore  in  contemplation,  would  immediately 
provide  me  with  a  sphere  of  work  suited  to  my  capabilities.  My 
expectations  were  not  falsified.  In  pursuance  of  my  plan  I  intro- 
duced myself  to  the  land-surveyors  in  Bamberg,  and  at  once 
received  employment  from  one  of  them.  He  had  had  considerable 
surveys  in  hand,  and  was  still  engaged  upon  them.  As  I  showed 
some  proficiency  in  mapping,  he  entrusted  me  with  the  preparation 
of  the   necessary  maps   which   accompanied   the   surveys.     This 


*  Shared  the  fate  of  the  Bamberg  possessions,  and  of  many  other  princi- 
palities and  small  domains  at  that  time  existent;  namely,  absorption  under  the 
Napoleonic  rt'gime  mto  the  neighbouring  States.  This  went  to  Bavaria;  see 
the  text,  later  on. 


40  '  Autobiography  of  Frocbcl. 

kept  me  employed  for  some  time  on  work  sufficiently  remunera- 
tive for  my  needs. 

Of  course  the  question  in  hand  with  the  new  Government  was 
the  appointment  of  land-surveyors,  and  those  who  were  resident 
in  the  town  were  invited  to  send  in  maps  of  Bamberg  as  specimens 
of  their  work.  Through  the  instruction  I  had  enjoyed  in  my 
youth  I  was  not  unacquainted  with  such  work.  I  therefore  took 
pleasure  in  drawing  a  map,  which  I  sent  in.  My  work  was 
approved,  and  I  received  something  for  it ;  but  being  a  stranger, 
inexperienced,  and  young,  and  having  hardly  taken  the  best  way 
towards  my  purposed  aim,  I  obtained  no  appointment. 

After  I  had  finished  the  work  I  have  mentioned  the  survey  of  a 
small  private  property  was  put  into  my  hands  to  carry  out.  From 
this  engagement  ensued  consequences  which  were  most  important 
forme.  I  note  only  one  point  here.  One  of  the  joint  owners  of  this 
property  was  a  young  doctor  of  philosophy,  who  leaned  towards 
the  new  school  of  Schelling.  It  could  hardly  be  expected  but  that 
we  should  talk  over  things  which  stirred  our  mental  life,  and  so 
it  came  about  that  he  lent  me  Schelling's  *'  Bruno,  oder  iiber  die 
Welt-seele  "  *  to  read.  What  I  read  in  that  book  moved  me  pro- 
foundly, and  I  thought  I  really  understood  it.  The  friendly  young 
fellow,  not  much  older  than  myself — we  had  already  met  in  Jena, 
— saw  the  lively  interest  I  was  taking  in  the  book,  and,  in  fact,  I 
talked  it  over  with  him  many  a  time.  One  day,  after  we  had  been 
to  see  an  important  picture-gallery  together,  he  addressed  me  in 
these  words,  which  from  his  mouth  sounded  startlingly  strange, 
and  which  at  the  time  seemed  to  me  inexplicable  : — 

"  Guard  yourself  against  philosophy  ;  she  leads  you  towards 
doubt  and  darkness.  Devote  yourself  to  art,  which  gives  life, 
peace,  and  joy." 

It  is  true  I  retained  the  young  man's  words,  but  I  could  not  under- 
stand them,  for  I  regarded  philosophy  as  a  necessary  part  of  the 
life  of  mankind,  and  could  not  grasp  the  notion  that  one  could  be 
verging  towards  darkness  and  doubt  when  one  calmly  investigated 
the  inner  life.     Art,  on  the  other  hand,  lay  much  further  from  me 

than  philosophy  ;  for  except  a  profound  enjoyment  in  works  of  art 

I 
— — — — 1 

*  Bruno,  or  the  Over-SouL 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  41 

(for  which  I  could  give  no  clear  reason),  no  glimmering  of  an  active 
aesthetic  sense  had  yet  dawned  upon  me.  This  remark  of  my 
friend  the  doctor's  called  my  attention  to  myself,  however,  and  to 
my  life  and  its  aim,  and  made  me  aware  of  two  very  different 
and  widely  separate  systems  of  life. 

My  friend,  the  tutor  of  the  Government  official  under  whom  I 
had  served  at  Bamberg,  had  in  the  meantime  left  his  situation. 
He  told  me  before  leaving  that  he  had  it  in  his  mind  to  go  to 
Frankfurt,  and  thence  into  France.  I  saw  his  departure  with 
regret,  little  dreaming  that  life  would  in  a  few  years  bring  us 
together  again,  and  that  he  would  indirectly  decide  my  future 
career.  But,  as  it  so  often  happens  in  life,  parting  in  this  instance 
but  led  up  to  meeting,  and  meeting  to  parting. 

The  occurrences  1  have  named  had  little  result  upon  my  out- 
ward life,  which  for  the  time  ran  its  peaceful  course.  I  pass  over 
many  circumstances  important  to  the  uplifting  and  development  of 
my  character  and  my  moral  life,  and  come  at  once  to  the  close  of 
my  stay  in  Bamberg. 

I  had  now  once  more  earnestly  to  turn  my  attention  to  pro- 
curing certain  and  settled  employment.  In  truth,  as  regarded  my 
future,  I  stood  quite  alone.  I  had  no  one  to  lend  me  a  helping 
hand,  so  I_made  up  my  mind  to  go  forward,  trusting  only  in  God 
and  destiny,.  I  determined  to  seek  for  a  situation  by  means  of 
the  AUgemetne  Anzeiger  der  Deutschen,^  a  paper  then  very  much 
read,  and  I  thought  it  would  be  good  to  send  in  to  the  editor,  as  a 
proof  of  my  assertions  of  competency,  an  architectural  design,  and 
also  a  specimen  of  my  work  in  practical  surveying,  together  with 
explanations  of  both  of  them.  As  soon  as  my  plan  was  fully 
•conceived  I  set  to  work  at  it.  For  the  architectural  sketch  I  chose 
a  design  of  a  nobleman's  country  mansion^  with  the  surrounding 
outbuildings.  When  I  had  finished  it,  with  very  few  professional 
appliances  to  help  me,  it  contained  a  complete  working  out  of  all 
the  various  necessary  plans,  and  as  a  critical  test  of  its  accuracy 
and  suitability  to  the  proposed  scale  of  dimensions,  I  added  a 
statement  of  all  the  particulars  and  conditions  involved  in  it.  For 
the  land-surveying  I  chose  a  table  of  measurements  compiled  from 

*  "General  Intelligencer  of  the  German  people." 


42  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

the  map  I  had  previously  drawn,  which  I  carried  through  under 
certain  arbitrary  assumptions.  These  works,  together  with  my 
advertisement,  I  sent  in  1803  to  the  office  of  the  paper  I  have 
mentioned,  with  the  request  that  the  editor,  after  reading  my 
testimonials  and  inspecting  my  work,  would  add  a  few  confir- 
matory words  as  to  my  qualifications.  Work  and  testimonials 
alike  were  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  editor,  and  my  request  for  an 
editorial  comment  was  granted.  I  received  several  offers,  each 
one  containing  something  tempting  about  it.  It  was  difficult  to 
make  a  choice,  but  at  last  I  decided  to  accept  a  position  offered  me 
as  private  secretary  to  the  President  and  Privy-Councillor  Von 
Dewitz,  of  Mecklenburg-Strelitz,  at  this  time  resident  on  one  of 
his  estates,  Gross-Milchow. 

Amongst  the  other  offers  was  one  from  Privy-Councillor  Von 
Voldersdorf,  who  was  looking  out  for  an  accountant  for  his  estates 
in  the  Oberpfalz.*  This  situation  did  not  suit  me  so  well  as  the 
other,  but  I  accepted  a  proposition  to  fill  up  the  time  till  the 
arrangements  for  the  other  post  had  been  completed,  by  going 
down  to  these  estates  of  Herr  Von  Voldersdorf,  and  bringing  into 
order,  according  to  a  certain  specified  plan,  the  heavy  accounts  of 
his  steward,  which  were  at  this  time  much  in  arrear.  I  set  off 
for  the  Oberpfalz  in  the  first  days  of  1804.  But  I  was  soon  called 
away  to  Mecklenburg  to  the  situation  at  Gross-Milchow  which  I 
had  definitively  chosen,  and  in  the  raw,  frightfully  severe  winter- 
time of  February  I  journeyed  thither  by  the  mail-coach.  Yet, 
short  as  had  been  my  stay  in  the  Oberpfalz,  and  continual  and 
uninterrupted  as  had  been  my  labour  in  order  that  I  might  get 
through  the  work  I  had  undertaken,  the  time  I  spent  in  Bavaria 
yielded  me  much  that  was  instructive.  The  men,  ingenuous,  lively 
young  fellows  from  Saxony  and  Prussia,  received  me  very  kindly, 
and  the  variety  of  their  different  services  and  their  readiness  to 
talk  about  them,  gave  me  a  good  insight  into  the  inner  relationship 
between  the  landed  aristocracy  and  their  retainers.  In  recalling 
these  circumstances  I  thankfully  acknowledge  how  my  ever-tender 
loving  destiny  took  pains  kindly  to  prepare  me  for  each  vocation 
next  to  come.     I  had  never  before  had  the  opportunity  to  see  the 

*  Upper  Palatinate,  a  province  in  the  north  of  Bavaria. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  43 

mode  of  keeping  accounts  used  on  a  great  estate,  to  say  nothing  of 
keeping  them  myself,  and  here  I  had  this  very  work  to  do,  and 
that  after  a  plan  both  ample  and  clear,  in  which  every  particular, 
down  to  the  single  details,  was  carefully  provided  for.  This  was 
of  the  greatest  service  to  me.  Precisely  the  conduct  of  such  well- 
ordered  accounts  was  to  be  my  work  later  on  ;  therefore,  having 
the  general  plan  I  have  referred  to  firmly  established  in  my  mind, 
and  being  well  practised  in  its  operation,  I  set  off  well  prepared 
for  my  new  sphere  of  work.  Thanks  to  this,  I  was  able  to  satisfy 
most  completely  not  only  my  new  employer,  but  also  his  lady, 
who  used  to  examine  everything  minutely  with  severe  scrutiny. 

The  surroundings  of  Herr  Von  Dewitz's  estate  were  uncommonly 
pretty  for  that  part  of  the  country.  Lakes  and  hills  and  the  fresh 
foliage  of  trees  abounded,  and  what  Nature  had  perhaps  overlooked 
here  and  there  Art  had  made  good.  My  good  fortune  has  always  led 
me  amongst  pretty  natural  scenery.  I  have  ever  thankfully  enjoyed 
what  Nature  has  spread  before  my  eyes,  and  she  has  alwaj's  been 
in  true  motherly  unity  with  me.  As  soon  as  I  had  gained  some 
facility  in  it  my  new  work  became  simple,  ran  its  regular  course 
which  was  repeated  week  by  week,  and  gave  me  time  to  think 
about  my  own  improvement. 

However,  my  engagement  on  this  estate  was,  after  all,  but  a 
short  one.  The  bent  of  my  life  and  disposition  was  already  taken. 
A  star  had  arisen  within  my  mind  which  I  was  impelled  to  follow. 
On  this  account  I  could  regard  my  employment  at  this  time  only 
as  a  sheet  anchor,  to  be  let  go  as  soon  as  an  opportunity  offered 
itself  to  resume  my  vocation.  This  opportunity  was  not  long  in 
making  its  appearance. 

My  uncle  (Hoffmann),  who,  like  my  brother,  bore  me  always 
lovingly  in  his  thoughts,  had  lately  died.  Even  on  his  deathbed 
he  thought  of  me,  and  charged  my  brother  to  do  all  he  could  to 
find  me  some  settled  occupation  for  life,  and  at  any  rate  to  pre- 
vent me  from  leaving  the  post  I  held  at  the  m.oment  before  I  had 
some  reasonable  prospect  of  a  secure  and  better  engagement  else- 
where. Providence  willed  it  otherwise.  His  death,  through  the 
small  inheritance  which  thereby  came  to  me,  gave  me  the  means 
of  fulfilling  the  dearest  wish  of  my  heart.  So  wonderfully  does 
God  direct  the  fate  of  men. 


44  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 


I  must  mention  one  circumstance  before  I  part  for  ever  in  this 
account  of  my  life  from  my  gentle,  loving  second-father.  On  my 
journey  to  Mecklenburg,  when  I  saw  my  uncle  (at  Stadt-Ilm)  for 
the  last  time,  I  had  the  deep  joy  of  a  talk  with  him,  such  as  a 
trusting  father  might  hold  with  his  grown-up  son,  bound  to  him 
by  every  tie  of  affection.  He  freely  pointed  out  the  faults  which 
had  shown  themselves  in  my  boyhood,  and  told  me  of  the  anxiety 
they  had  at  one  time  caused  him,  and  in  this  way  he  went  back 
to  the  time  when  I  was  taken  into  his  family,  and  to  the  causes  of 
that.  "  I  loved  your  mother  very  dearly,"  said  he  ;  "  indeed,  she 
was  my  favourite  out  of  all  my  brothers  and  sisters.  In  you  I 
seemed  to  see  my  sister  once  more,  and  for  her  love  I  took  charge 
of  you,  and  bestowed  on  you  that  affection  which  hitherto  had 
been  hers  alone."  And  dear  as  my  own  mother  had  become  to 
me  already  through  the  many  kind  things  I  had  heard  said  of  her, 
so  that  I  had  even  formed  a  distinct  conception  of  what  she  was 
like,  and  seemed  actually  to  remember  her,  she  became  even 
dearer  to  me  after  these  reminiscences  of  my  uncle  than  before, 
for  did  1  not  owe  to  her  this  noble  and  high-minded  second-father? 
My  conversation  with  my  uncle  first  made  clear  to  me  what  in 
later  life  I  have  found  repeatedly  confirmed — that  the  sources, 
springs,  or  motives  of  one's  present  actions  often  lie  far  away 
beyond  the  present  time,  outside  the  present  circumstances,  and 
are  altogether  disconnected  with  the  persons  with  whom  one  is 
concerned  at  the  moment  then  passing.  I  have  also  repeatedly 
observed  in  the  course  of  mj'  life  that  ties  are  the  faster,  the  more 
enduring,  and  the  truer  the  more  they  spring  from  higher, 
universal,  and  impersonal  sources. 

The  person  who  in  Mecklenburg  stood  next  above  me  in 
position  in  the  house  and  in  the  family  was  the  private  tutor, 
whom  I  found  already  there — a  young  doctor  of  philosophy  of 
Gottingen  University.  We  did  not  come  much  into  contact  on 
the  whole,  since  he  as  a  university  graduate  took  a  far  higher  stand 
than  I  ;  but  through  him  I  came  into  some  connection  with  the 
clergymen  of  the  district,  and  this  was  of  benefit  to  me.  As  for 
the  farmers,  the  bailiffs,  etc.,  their  hospitable  nature  was  quite 
sufficient  of  itself  to  afford  me  a  hearty  welcome.  Thus  I  lived  in 
a  way  I  had  for  a  long  time  felt  I  much  needed,  amidst  many-sided 


Autobiography  of  Froebel,  45^. 

companionable  good-fellowship,  cheerful  and  free.  Healthy  as  1 
was  in  body  and  soul,  in  head  and  heart,  my  thoughts  full  of  bright- 
ness and  cheerfulness,  it  was  not  long  before  my  mind  again  felt 
an  eager  desire  for  higher  culture.  The  young  tutor  went  away, 
and  after  his  departure  my  craving  for  culture  grew  keener  and 
keener,  for  I  missed  the  intellectual  converse  I  had  been  able  to 
hold  with  him.     But  I  was  soon  again  to  receive  succour. 

The  President,*  besides  the  family  at  home,  had  two  sons  at  the 
Padagogium  in  Halle.t  They  came  to  visit  their  parents,  accom- 
panied by  their  special  tutor,  a  gentleman  destined  to  become 
famous  later  on  as  the  renowned  scholar.  Dr.  WoUweide. 

Dr.  Wollweide  was  a  mathematician  and  a  physicist,  and  I 
found  him  freely  communicative.  He  was  so  kind  as  to  mention 
and  explain  to  me  the  many  various  problems  he  had  set  before 
himself  to  work  out.  This  caused  my  long  slumbering  and  sup- 
pressed love  for  mathematics  as  a  science,  and  for  physics,  to 
spring  up  again,  fully  awake.  For  some  time  past  my  tendency 
had  leaned  more  and  more  towards  architecture,  and,  indeed,  I 
had  now  firmly  determined  to  choose  that  as  my  profession,  and' 
to  study  it  henceforth  with  all  earnestness.  My  intellectual 
cravings  and  the  choice  of  a  profession  seemed  at  last  to  run 
together,  and  I  felt  continually  bright  and  happy  at  the  thought- 
I  seized  the  opportunity  of  the  presence  of  the  scholar  whom  I 
have  named  to  learn  from  him  what  were  the  best  books  on 
those  subjects  w-hich  promised  to  be  useful  to  me,  and  my  first 
care  was  to  become  possessed  of  them.  Architecture  was  now 
vigorously  studied,  and  other  books,  too,  were  not  suffered  to  lie 
idle. 

The  following  books  took  great  hold  upon  me  :  Proschke's 
"  Fragments  on  Anthropology "  (a  small  unpretending  book), 
Novalis'  Works,  and  Arndt's  "  Germany  "  and  "  Europe."  %     The 


*  Herr  Von  Dewitz,  his  employer. 

t  The  Padagogium  in  Halle  answered  somewhat  to  our  grammar  schools 
with  a  mixture  of  boarders  and  day-scholars.  It  was  founded  by  P'rancke  ii> 
1712,  after  the  ideas  of  the  famous  Basedow,  and  was  endowed  by  means  of  a 
public  subscription. 

X  These  were  two  pamphlets  by  the  famous  patriot  and  poet  Ernst  Moritz 
Arndt  (1769-1860),  published  in  1805. 


46  Autobiography  of  Froehel. 

first  of  these  at  one  stroke  drew  together,  so  that  I  could  recog- 
nise in  them  myself  as  a  connected  whole,  my  outer  existence, 
my  inner  character,  my  disposition,  and  the  course  of  my  life.  I 
for  the  first  time  realised  myself  and  my  life  as  a  single  entity  in 
contrast  to  the  whole  world  outside  of  me.*  The  second  book 
lay  before  me  the  most  secret  emotions,  perceptions,  and  inten- 
tions of  my  inmost  soul,  clear,  open,  and  vivid.  If  I  parted  with 
that  book  it  seemed  as  if  I  had  parted  with  myself;  if  anything 
happened  to  the  book  I  felt  as  though  it  had  happened  to  me, 
only  more  deeply  and  with  greater  pain.  The  third  book  taught 
me  of  man  in  his  broad  historical  relations,  set  before  me  the 
general  life  of  my  kind  as  one  great  whole,  and  showed  me  how 
I  was  bound  to  my  own  nation,  both  to  my  ancestors  and  my 
contemporaries.  Yet  the  service  this  last  book  had  done  me 
was  hardly  recognised  at  this  time ;  for  my  thoughts  were  bent 
on  a  definite  outward  aim,  that  of  becoming  an  architect.  But  I 
could  at  all  events  recognise  the  new  eager  life  which  had  seized 
me,  and  to  mark  this  change  to  myself,  I  now  began  to  use  as  a 
Christian  name  the  last  instead  of  the  first  of  my  baptismal 
names.t  Other  circumstances  also  impelled  me  to  make  this 
change ;  and,  further,  it  freed  me  from  the  memory  of  the  many 
disagreeable  impressions  of  my  boyhood  which  clustered  round 
the  name  I  was  then  called. 

The  time  had  come  when  I  could  no  longer  remain  satisfied 
with  my  present  occupation ;  and  I  therefore  sent  in  my  resignation. 
The  immediate  outward  circumstance  which  decided  me  was 
this.  I  had  kept  up  a  correspondence  with  the  young  man  whom 
I  had  known  as  a  private  tutor  when  I  held  a  Government  clerk- 
ship in  Bamberg,  and  who  left  his  situation  to  go  to  Frankfurt, 
and  then  on  into  France.^  He  had  afterwards  lived  some  time 
in  Frankfurt,  occupying  himself  with  teaching,  and  now  was  again 
a  private  tutor  in  a  merchant's  house  in  the  Netherlands.     I  im- 


*That  is,  Froebel  realised  the  distinction  of  the  subject-world  from  the 
object-world. 

t  That  is,  he  signed  Wilhelm  Froebel  instead  of  Friediich  Froebel,  for  a 
time.     It  cannot  have  been  for  long.  l)owcver. 

X  The  young  man  mentioned  on  page  39. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  47 

parted  to  him  my  desire  to  leave  my  present  post,  and  to  seek  a 
situation  with  an  architect ;  and  asked  his  opinion  whether  I 
should  not  be  most  likely  to  effect  my  object  at  Frankfurt,  where 
so  many  streams  of  diverse  life  and  of  men  intermingle.  And  as 
my  friend  was  accurately  acquainted  with  the  ins  and  outs  of 
Frankfurt  life,  I  asked  him  to  give  me  such  indications  as  he 
could  of  the  best  road  to  take  towards  the  fulfilment  of  my 
designs.  My  friend  entered  heartily  into  my  project,  and  wrote 
to  me  that  he  intended  himself  to  spend  some  time  in  Frankfurt 
again  in  the  early  summer ;  and  he  suggested  that  if  I  could 
manage  to  be  there  at  the  same  time,  a  mutual  consideration  of 
the  whole  matter  on  the  spot  would  be  the  best  way  of  going  to 
work.  In  consequence  of  this  I  at  once  firmly  decided  to  leave 
my  situation  in  the  following  spring,  and  to  join  my  friend  at 
Frankfurt.  But  where  was  I  to  find  the  money  necessary  for 
such  a  journey  ?  I  had  required  the  whole  of  my  salary  up  till 
now  to  cover  my  personal  expenses  and  the  settlement  of  some 
debts  I  had  run  up  at  Bamberg. 

In  this  perplexity  I  wrote  again  to  my  eldest  brother,  who  had 
up  till  now  understood  me  so  well,  and  I  asked  him  for  assist- 
ance. I  was  at  this  time  in  a  peculiar  dilemma.  On  the  one  hand, 
I  felt  very  keenly  that  I  must  get  out  of  my  present  position,  while 
on  the  other,  by  my  unchanging  changeableness  I  feared  to  wear 
out  the  indulgence  and  patience  of  my  worthy  brother.  In  this 
strait  I  just  gave  him  what  seemed  to  me  as  I  wrote  it  an  exact 
account  of  my  real  state  of  mind  ;  telling  him  that  I  could  only 
find  my  life-aim  in  a  continual  striving  towards  inward  perfection. 

My  brother's  answer  arrived.  With  a  joyful  tremor  and 
agitation  I  held  it  in  my  hands.  For  hours  together  I  carried  it 
about  me  before  I  unsealed  it,  for  days  together  before  I  read  it  ; 
it  seemed  so  improbable  that  my  brother  would  feel  himself  able 
to  help  me  towards  the  accomplishment  of  the  desire  of  my  soul, 
and  I  feared  to  find  in  that  letter  the  frustration  of  my  life's 
endeavour.  When,  after  some  days  of  vacillation  between  hope 
and  doubt,  I  could  bear  the  situation  no  longer,  and  opened  the 
letter,  I  was  not  a  little  astonished  that  it  began  by  addressing 
me  at  once  in  terms  of  the  most  moving  sympathy.  As  I  read 
on  the  contents  agitated  me   deeply.     The  letter  gave  me  the 


48  Autobiography  oj  Froebel. 


news  of  my  beloved  uncle's  death,  and  informed  me  of  legacies., 
left  by  him  to  me  and  my  brothers.     Thus  fate  itself,  though  in  a 
manner   so   deeply   affecting,    provided  me   with  the   means  for 
working  out  my  next  plan. 

The  die  was  now  cast.  From  this  moment  onwards  my  inner 
life  received  a  quite  new  signification  and  a  fresh  character,  and 
j'et  1  was  unconscious  of  all  this.  I  was  like  a  tree  which 
flowers  and  knows  it  not.  My  inward  and  outward  vocation  and 
endeavour,  my  true  life-destiny  and  my  apparent  life-aim  were 
still,  however,  in  a  state  of  separation,  and  indeed  of  conflict,  of 
which  I  had  not  the  remotest  conception.  My  resolve  held  firm 
to  make  architecture  my  profession  j  it  was  purely  as  a  future 
architect  that  I  took  leave  of  all  my  companions. 

At  the  end  of  April  1805,  with  peace  in  my  heart,  cheerfulness, 
in  my  soul,  an  eager  disposition,  and  a  mind  full  of  energy,  I 
quitted  my  old  surroundings.  The  first  days  of  an  unusually 
lovely  May  (and  I  might  here  again  recall  what  1  pointed  out 
above,  that  my  inner  and  personal  life  invariably  went  familiarly 
hand  in  hand  with  external  Nature)  I  spent  with  a  friend,  as  a 
holida}',  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word.  This  was  a  dear  friend 
of  mine,  who  lived  on  an  exceedingly  finely-situated  farm  in  the 
Uckermark.*  Art  had  improved  the  beauty  of  the  somewhat 
simple  natural  features  of  the  place,  in  the  most  cunningly-devised 
fashion.  In  this  beautiful,  retired,  and  even  solitary  spot,  I 
flitted,  as  it  were,  from  one  flower  to  another  like  a  very  butterfly. 
I  had  always  passionately  loved  Nature  in  her  adornments  of 
colour  and  of  dewy  pearls,  and  clung  to  her  closely  with  the 
gladsomeness  of  youth.  Here  I  made  the  discovery  that  a  land- 
scape which  we  look  upon  in  sympathetic  mood  shines  with 
enhanced  brilliancy  ;  or  as  I  put  the  truth  into  words  at  the  time, 
"  The  more  intimately  we  attach  ourselves  to  Nature,  the  more 
she  glows  with  beauty  and  returns  us  all  our  affection."  This 
was  the  first  time  my  mind    had    ventured    to   give  expression 


*  The  pretty  district  bordering  the  river  Ucker,  in  pleasing  contrast  with 
the  sandy  plains  of  Brandenburg  ;  it  lies  at  no  great  distance  from  Berlin, 
so  that  it  forms  the  favourite  goal  for  a  short  excursion  with  the  people  of 
that  arid  city. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  49 


to  a  sentiment  which  thrilled  my  soul.  Often  in  later  life  has 
this  phrase  proved  itself  a  very  truth  to  me.  My  friend  one  day 
begged  me  to  write  something  in  his  album  :  I  did  so  unwillingly. 
To  write  anything  borrowed  went  against  me,  for  it  jarred  with 
the  relations  existing  between  me  and  the  book's  owner ;  and 
to  think  of  anything  original  was  a  task  I  felt  to  be  almost  beyond 
my  powers.  However,  after  long  thinking  it  over  in  the  open 
air,  comparing  my  friend's  life  and  my  own  in  all  their  aspects, 
I  decided  upon  the  following  phrase  : — "  To  thee  may  destiny 
soon  grant  a  settled  home  and  a  loving  wife  !  To  me,  while  she 
drives  me  restless  abroad,  may  she  leave  but  just  so  much  time 
as  to  allow  me  fairly  to  discern  my  relations  with  my  inmost  self 
and  with  the  world."  Then  my  thoughts  grew  clear,  and  I 
continued,  "  Thou  givest  man  bread  ;  let  my  aim  be  to  give  man 
himself." 

I  did  not  even  then  fully  apprehend  the  meaning  of  what  I  had 
said  and  written,  or  I  could  not  of  course  have  held  so  firmly  to 
my  architecture  scheme.  I  knew  as  yet  neither  myself  nor  my 
real  life,  neither  my  goal  nor  my  life's  path  thither.  And  long 
afterwards,  when  I  had  for  some  time  been  engaged  upon  my 
true  vocation,  I  was  not  a  little  astonished  over  the  prophetic 
nature  of  this  album-phrase  of  mine. 

In  later  life  I  have  often  observed  that  a  man's  spirit,  when  it 
first  begins  to  stir  within  him,  utters  many  a  far-away  prophetic 
thought,  which  yet,  in  riper  age,  attains  its  realisation,  its 
consummation.  I  have  especially  noticed  this  recently  in  bright- 
minded  and  active  children ;  in  fact,  I  have  often  been  quite 
astounded  at  the  really  deep  truths  expressed  by  them  in  their 
butterfly  life.  I  seemed  to  catch  glimpses  of  a  symbolic  truth  in 
this ;  as  if  indeed  the  human  soul  were  even  already  beginning 
to  shake  itself  free  from  its  chrysalis-wrapping,  or  were  bursting 
off  the  last  fragments  of  the  eggshell. 

In  May  1805,  while  on  my  journey,  I  visited  my  eldest  brother, 
of  whom  I  have  <  so  often  spoken,  and  shall  have  yet  so  often  to 
speak,  and  found  him  in  another  district,  to  which  he  had  beea 
appointed  minister.  He  was  as  kind  and  full  of  affection  as  ever  ; 
and  instead  of  blaming  me,  spoke  with  especial  approval  of  my 
new  plans.     He  told  me  of  projects  which  had  allured  him  in  his 


^O  Autobiography  oj  Froebel. 


youth,  and  still  allured,  but  which  he  had  lacked  the  strength  of  mind 
to  speak  of.  His  father's  advice  and  authority  had  overawed  him 
in  youth,  and  now  the  chain  of  a  settled  position  in  life  held  him 
fast.  To  follow  the  inward  voice  faithfully  and  without  swerving 
was  the  advice  he  offered  me,  and  he  wrote  this  memorandum  in 
my  album  when  I  left  him,  as  a  life  motto  : — "The  task  of  man 
is  a  struggle  towards  an  end.  Do  your  duty  as  a  man,  dear 
brother,  with  firmness  and  resolution,  fight  against  the  difficulties 
which  will  thrust  themselves  in  your  path,  and  be  assured  you 
will  attain  the  end." 

Thus  cheered  by  sympathy  and  approval,  I  went  my  way 
from  my  brother's,  strengthened  and  confirmed  in  my  determina- 
tion. My  road  lay  over  the  Wartburg.*  Luther's  life  and 
fame  were  then  not  nearly  so  well  appreciated  and  so  generally 
understood  as  now,  after  the  Tercentenary  festival  of  the  Reforma- 
tion.t  My  early  education  had  not  been  of  the  kind  to  give  me 
a  complete  survey  of  Luther's  life  and  its  struggle  ;  I  was  hardly 
thoroughly  acquainted  indeed  with  the  separate  events  of  it.  Yet 
I  had  learnt  in  some  sort  to  appreciate  this  fighter  for  the  truth, 
by  having  in  my  last  years  at  school  to  read  aloud  the  Augsburg 
Confession  to  the  assembled  congregation  during  the  afternoon 
service  on  certain  specified  Sundays,  according  to  an  old-fashioned 
Church  custom. +  I  was  filled  with  a  deep  sense  of  reverence  as 
I  climbed  "  Luther's  path/'  thinking  at  the  same  time  that  Luther 
had  left  much  behind  still  to  be  done,  to  be  rooted  out,  or  to  be 
.built  up. 

Shortly  before  Midsummer  Day,  as  I  had  arranged  with  my 
friend,  I  reached  Frankfurt.  During  my  many  weeks'  journey  in 
th  lovely  springtime,  my  thoughts  had  had  time  to  grow  calm 
and  collected.  My  friend,  too,  was  true  to  his  word  ;  and  we  at 
once  set  to  work  together  to  prepare  a  prosperous  future  for  me. 
The  plan  of  seeking  a  situation  with  an  architect  was  still  firmly 

*  Whilher  Luther  fled  for  refuge  after  the  Diet  of  Worms  in  1521  ;  and 
where,  protected  by  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  he  lay  concealed  for  a  year. 
During  this  year  he  translated  the  Hible. 

f  Held  all  over  Protestant  Germany  in  1817. 

\  Our  children  still  in  like  manner  "  say  their  catechism "  at  aftemoon 
church  in  old-fashioned  country  places. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  51 


held  to,  and  circumstances  seemed  favourable  for  its  realisation ; 
but  my  friend  at  last  advised  me  to  secure  a  livelihood  by 
giviBg4€SSons  for  a  time,  until  we  should  find  something  more 
definite  than  had  yet  appeared.  Every  prospect  of  a  speedy 
fulfilment  of  my  wishes  seemed  to  offer,  and  yet  in  proportion 
-as  my  hopes  grew  more  clear,  a  certain  feeling  of  oppression 
manifested  itself  more  and  more  within  me.  I  soon  began 
seriously  to  ask  myself,  therefore : — 

"  How  is  this  ?  Canst  thou  do  work  in  architecture  worthy  of 
a  man's  life  ?  Canst  thou  use  it  to  the  culture  and  the  ennoble- 
ment of  mankind  ?  " 

I  answered  my  own  question  to  my  satisfaction.  Yet  I  could 
not  conceal  from  myself  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  follow  this 
profession  conformably  with  the  ideal  I  had  now  set  before  me. 
Notwithstanding  this,  I  still  remained  faithful  to  my  original 
scheme,  and  soon  began  to  study  under  an  architect  with  a  view 
to  fitting  myself  for  my  new  profession. 

My  friend,  unceasingly  working  towards  the  accomplishment 
of  my  views,  introduced  me  to  a  friend  of  his,  Herr  Gruner,  the 
headmaster  at  that  time  of  the  Frankfurt  Model  School,'''  which 
had  not  long  been  established.  Here  I  found  open-minded  young 
people  who  met  me  readily  and  ingenuously,  and  our  conversation 
soon  ranged  freely  over  life  and  its  many-sided  aspects.  My  own 
life  and  its  object  were  also  brought  forward  and  talked  over.  I 
spoke  openly,  manifesting  myself  just  as  I  was,  saying  what  I 
knew  and  what  I  did  not  know  about  myself 

"  Oh,"  said  Gruner,  turning  to  me,  "  give  up  architecture ;  it 
is  not  your  vocation  at  all.  Become  a  teacher.  We  want  a 
teacher  in  our  own  school.  Say  you  agree,  and  the  place  shall  be 
yours." 

My  friend  was  for  accepting  Gruner's  proposal,  and  I  began  to 
hesitate.  Added  to  this,  an  external  circumstance  now  came  to 
my  knowledge  which  hastened  my  decision.  I  received  the  news 
namely,  that  the  whole  of  my  testimonials,  and  particularly  those 


*  This  school,  still  in  existence  up  to  1865  and  lai-2r,  but  now  no  longer  in 
being,  had  been  founded  under  Gruner,  a  pupil  of  Pestalozzi,  to  embody  and 
carry  out  the  educational  principles  of  the  latter. 


52  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 


that  1  had  received  in  Jena,  which  were  amongst  them,  had  been 
lost.  They  had  been  sent  to  a  gentleman  who  took  a  lively 
interest  in  my  affairs,  and  I  never  found  out  through  what  mis- 
chance they  were  lost.  I  now  read  this  to  mean  that  Providence 
itself  had  thus  broken  up  the  bridge  behind  me,  and  cut  off  all 
return.  1  deliberated  no  longer,  but  eagerly  and  joyfully  seized 
the  hand  held  out  to  me,  and  quickly  became  a  teacher  in  the 
Model  School  of  Frankfurt-on-the-Main.* 

The  watchword  of  teaching  and  of  education  was  at  this  time 
the  name  of  Pestalozzi.  It  soon  became  evident  to  me  that 
Pestalozzi  was  to  be  the  watchword  of  my  life  also ;  for  not  only 
Gruner,  but  also  a  second  teacher  at  the  school,  were  pupils  of 
Pestalozzi,  and  the  first-named  had  even  written  a  book  on  his 
method  of  teaching.  The  name  had  a  magnetic  effect  upon  me, 
the  more  so  as  during  my  self-development  and  self-education  it  had 
seemed  to  me  an  aspiration — a  something  perhaps  never  to  be 
familiarly  known,  yet  distinct  enough,  and  at  all  events  inspiriting. 
And  now  I  recalled  how  in  my  early  boyhood,  in  my  father's  house, 
I  had  got  a  certain  piece  of  news  out  of  some  newspaper  or 
another,  or  at  least  that  is  how  the  matter  stood  in  my  memory. 
I  gathered  that  in  Switzerland  a  man  of  forty,  who  lived  retired 
from  the  world, — Pestalozzi  by  name, — had  taught  himself,  alone 
and  unaided,  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic.  Just  at  that  time  I 
was  feeling  the  slowness  and  insufficiency  of  my  own  development, 
and  this  news  quieted  me,  and  filled  me  with  the  hope  and  trust 
that  I,  too,  might,  through  my  own  endeavour,  repair  the  deficien- 
cies of  my  bringing-up.  As  I  have  grown  older  I  have  also  found 
it  consolatory  to  remark  how  the  culture  of  vigorous,  capable  men 
has  not  seldom  been  acquired  remarkably  late  in  life.  And  in 
general  I  must  acknowledge  it  as  part  of  the  groundwork  under, 
lying  my  life  and  the  evolution  of  my  character,  that  the  contempla- 
tion of  the  actual  existences  of  real  men  always  wrought  upon 
my  soul,  as  it  were,  by  a  fruitful  rain  and  the  genial  warmth  of 
sunshine;  while  the  isolated  truths  these  lives  enshrined,  the 


•  There  is  a  smaller  town  called  Frankfurt,  on  the  Oder.  "Am  Main," 
or  'An  der  Oder,"  is,  therefore,  added  to  the  greater  or  the  smaller  Frankfurt 
respectively,  for  distinction's  sake. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  53 


principles  those  who  lived  them  had  thought  out  and  embodied 
in  some  phrase  or  another,  fell  as  precious  seed-corn,  as  it  were, 
or  as  solvent  salt  crystals  upon  my  thirsty  spirit.  And  while  on 
this  head  I  cannot  help  especially  calling  to  mind  how  deep  and 
lasting  was  the  impression  made  upon  me  in  my  last  year  at 
school  by  the  accounts  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  of  the  lives  of 
earnestly  striving  youths  and  men.  I  mention  it  here,  but  I  shall 
have  to  return  to  the  subject  later  on.* 

Now  to  return  to  the  new  life  which  I  had  begun.  It  was  only 
to  be  expected  that  each  thing  and  all  things  I  heard  of  Pestalozzi 
seized  powerfully  upon  me  ;  and  this  more  especially  applies  to  a 
sketchy  narrative  of  his  life,  his  aims,  and  his  struggles,  which  I 
found  in  a  literary  newspaper,  where  also  was  stated  Pestalozzi's 
well-known  desire  and  endeavour — namely,  in  some  nook  or  corner 
of  the  world,  no  matter  where,  to  build  up  an  institution  for  the 
education  of  the  poor,  after  his  own  heart.  This  narrative,  espe- 
cially the  last  point  of  it,  was  to  my  heart  like  oil  poured  on  fire. 
There  and  then  the  resolution  was  taken  to  go  and  look  upon  this 
man  who  could  so  think  and  so  endeavour  to  act,  and  to  study  his 
life  and  its  work. 

Three  days  afterwards  (it  was  towards  the  end  of  August  1805) 
I  was  already  on  the  road  to  Yverdon,t  where  Pestalozzi  had 
not  long  before  established  himself.  Once  arrived  there,  and 
having  met  with  the  friendliest  reception  by  Pestalozzi  and  his 
teachers,  because  of  my  introductions  from  Gruner  and  his  col- 
leagues, I  was  taken,  like  every  other  visitor,  to  the  class-rooms, 
and  there  left  more  or  less  to  my  own  devices.  I  was  still  very 
inexperienced,  both  in  the  theory  and  practice  of  teaching,  relying 
chiefly  in  such  things  upon  my  memory  of  my  own  school-time,  and 
I  was  therefore  very  little  fitted  for  a  rigorous  examination  into 
details  of  method  and  into  the  way  they  were  connected  to  form 
a  whole  system.  The  latter  point,  indeed,  was  neither  clearly 
thought  out,  nor  was  it  worked  out  in  practice.  What  I  saw  was 
to  me  at  once  elevating  and  depressing,  arousing  and  also  bewil- 

*  He  never  doe?,  for  this  interesting  record  remains  a  fragment, 
t  Situate  at  the  head  of  the  lake  of  Neuchate),  but  in  the  canton  of  Vaud, 
in  Switzerland. 


54  Autobiography  oj  Froebel. 


dering.  My  visit  lasted  only  a  fortnight.  I  worked  away  and 
tried  to  take  in  as  much  as  I  could  ;  especially  as,  to  help  me  in  the 
duties  I  had  undertaken,  I  felt  impelled  to  give  a  faithful  account 
in  writing  of  my  views  on  the  whole  system,  and  the  effect  it 
had  produced  upon  me.  With  this  idea  I  tried  to  hold  fast  in  my 
memory  all  1  heard.  Nevertheless  I  soon  felt  that  heart  and  mind 
would  alike  come  to  grief  in  a  man  of  my  disposition  if  I  were  to 
stay  longer  with  Pestalozzi,  much  as  I  desired  to  do  so.  At  that 
time  the  life  there  was  especially  vigorous ;  internally  and  exter- 
nally it  was  a  living,  moving,  stirring  existence,  for  Prince  Har- 
denberg,  commissioned  by  the  Austrian  Government,  had  come 
to  examine  thoroughly  into  Pestalozzi's  work.* 

The  fruits  of  my  short  stay  with  Pestalozzi  were  as  follows  : — 
In  the  first  place,  I  saw  the  whole  training  of  a  great  educational 
institution,  worked  upon  a  clear  and  firmly-settled  plan  of  teach- 
ing. I  still  possess  the  "teaching-plan  "  of  Pestalozzi's  institution 
in  use  at  that  time.  This  teaching-plan  contains,  in  my  opinion, 
much  that  is  excellent,  somewhat  also  that  is  prejudicial.  Ex- 
cellent, I  thought,  was  the  contrivance  of  the  so-called  "exchange 
classes."  t  In  each  subject  the  instruction  was  always  given 
through  the  entire  establishment  at  the  same  time.  Thus  the 
subjects  for  teaching  were  settled  for  every  class,  but  the  pupils 
were  distributed  amongst  the  various  classes  according  to  their 
proficiency  in  the  subject  in  hand,  so  that  the  whole  body  of 
pupils  was  redistributed  in  quite  a  distinct  division  for  each 
subject.  The  advantage  of  this  contrivance  struck  me  as  so 
undeniable  and  so  forcible  that  I  have  never  since  relinquished 
it  in  my  educational  work,  nor  could  I  now  bring  myself  to  do 
so.  The  prejudicial  side  of  the  teaching-plan,  against  which  I 
intuitively  rebelled,  although  my  own  tendencies  on  the  subject 
were  as  yet  so  vague  and  dim,  lay,  in  my  opinion,  in  its  in- 
completeness and  its  onesidedness.     Several  subjects  of  teaching 

*  Austria  was  not  the  only  country  alive  to  the  importance  of  this  new 
teaching.  Prussia  and  Holland  also  sent  commissioners  to  study  Pestalozzi's 
system,  and  so  did  many  other  smaller  states.  The  Czar  (Alexander  I.)  sent 
for  Pestalozzi  to  a  personal  interview  at  Basel. 

•f  Wandernde   Classen.     Some  of  our  later  English  schools  have  adopted  a. 
similar  jilan. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  55 


and  education  highly  important  to  the  all-round  harmonious 
development  of  a  man  seemed  to  me  thrust  far  too  much  into 
the  background,  treated  in  step-motherly  fashion,  and  superficially 
worked  out. 

The  results  of  the  arithmetical  teaching  astounded  me,  yet  I 
could  not  follow  it  into  its  larger  applications  and  wider  extent. 
The  mechanical  rules  of  this  branch  of  instruction  seemed  to 
whirl  me  round  and  round  as  in  a  whirlpool.  The  teacher  was 
Kriisi.  The  teaching,  in  spite  of  the  brilliant  results  within  its 
own  circle,  and  in  spite  of  the  sharpness  of  the  quickened  powers 
of  perception  and  comprehension  in  the  children  by  which  it 
attained  those  results,  yet,  to  my  personal  taste,  had  something 
too  positive  in  its  setting  forth,  too  mechanical  in  its  reception. 
And  Josias  Schmid  *  had  already,  even  at  that  time,  felt  the 
imperfection  of  this  branch  of  instruction.  He  imparted  to  me 
the  first  ground-principles  of  his  later  work  on  the  subject,  and 
his  ideas  at  once  commanded  my  approval,  for  I  saw  they 
possessed  two  important  properties,  manysidedness  and  an 
exhaustive  scientific  basis. 

The  teaching  of  drawing  was  also  very  incomplete,  especially 
in  its  first  commencement ;  but  drawing  from  right-angled  prisms 
with  equal  sides,  in  various  lengths,  which  was  one  of  the 
exercises  required  at  a  later  stage,  and  drawing  other  mathe- 
matical figures  by  means  of  which  the  comprehension  of  the 
forms  of  actual  objects  of  every-day  life  might  be  facilitated  were 
much  more  to  my  mind.  Schmid's  method  of  drawing  had  not 
yet  appeared. 

In  physical  geography,  the  usual  school  course,  with  its  many- 
coloured  maps,  had  been  left  far  behind.  Tobler,  an  active  young 
man,  was  the  principal  teacher  in  this  section.  Still,  even  this 
branch  had  far  too  much  positive  instruction  t  for  me.  Particu- 
larly unpleasant  to  me  was  the  commencement  of  the  course, 
which  began  with  an  account  of  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  although 

*  One  of  Pestalozzi's  teachers,  to  whom  especially  was  confided  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  arithmetical  studies. 

t  By  positive  instruction  Froebel  means  learning  by  heart,  or  by  being  told 
results ;  as  distinguished  from  actual  education  or  development  of  the  faculties, 
and  the  working  out  of  results  by  pupils  for  themselves. 


56  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

the  pupils  could  have  no  conception  of  their  own  as  to  its  nature 
or  dimensions.  Nevertheless  the  teaching  aroused  astonishment, 
and  carried  one  involuntarily  along  with  it  through  the  impres- 
sion made  by  the  lightning-quickness  of  the  answers  of  the 
children. 

In  natural  history  I  heard  only  the  botany.  The  principal 
teacher,  who  had  also  prepared  the  plan  of  instruction  in  this 
subject  for  all  the  school,  was  Hopf,  like  the  rest  an  active  young 
man.  The  school  course  arranged  and  carried  out  by  him  had 
much  that  was  excellent.  In  each  separate  instance — for  example, 
the  shape  and  position  of  leaves,  flowers,  etc. — he  would  first 
obtain  all  the  possible  varieties  of  form  by  question  and  answer 
between  the  class  and  himself,  and  then  he  would  select  from 
the  results  the  form  which  was  before  them  in  nature.  These 
lessons,  which  were  in  this  way  made  so  attractive,  and  whose 
merits  spoke  for  themselves,  showed,  however,  when  it  came 
to  practical  application,  an  unpractical,  I  had  almost  said,  a  self- 
contradictory  aspect. 

(When,  afterwards,  in  1808,  I  visited  Yverdon  for  the  second 
time,  I  found  to  my  regret  neither  Tobler  nor  Hopf  there.) 

With  the  method  used  for  the  German  language  I  could  not  at 

lall  bring  myself  into  sympathy,  although  it  has  been  introduced 

linto  later  school  books  elsewhere.     Here  also  the  arbitrary  and 

non-productive  style   of  teaching  ran  strongly  counter  to  me  at 

levery  step. 

Singing  was  taught  from  figures.*  Reading  was  taught  from 
Pestalozzi's  well-known  "  A.  B.  C." 

[Memorandum. — All  this  lay  dark  within  me,  its  value  un- 
recognised even  by  myself.  But  my  intellectual  position  tended 
to  become  more  settled  by  passing  through  these  experiences. 
As  to  my  state  at  the  time,  I  have,  as  accurately  as  may  be, 
described  it  above,  as  at  once  exalted  and  depressed,  animated 
and    dull.     That     Pestalozzi     himself    was    carried    away    and 


*  This  must  mean  the  system  mvented  by  Rousseau,  a  modern  development 
of  which  is  the  Cheve  system  now  widely  used  on  the  Continent.  In  England 
the  tonic-sol-fa  notation,  which  uses  syllables  instead  of  figures,  but  which  rests 
fundamentally  on  the  same  principles,  is  much  more  familiar. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  57 


bewildered  by  this  great  intellectual  machine  of  his  appears  from 
the  fact  that  he  could  never  give  any  definite  account  of  his  idea, 
his  plan,  his  intention.  He  always  said,  "Go  and  see  for 
yourself"  (very  good  for  him  who  knew  how  to  look,  how  to 
hear,  how  to  perceive) ;  "  it  works  splendidly  !  "  *  It  was  at  that 
time,  indeed,  surprising  and  inexplicable  to  me  that  Pestalozzi's 
loving  character  did  not  win  every  one's  heart  as  it  won  mine, 
and  compel  the  staff  of  teachers  to  draw  together  into  a  connected 
whole,  penetrated  with  life  and  intellectual  strength  in  every 
part.  His  morning  and  evening  addresses  were  deeply  touching 
in  their  simplicity ;  and  yet  I  remarked  in  them  even  already  at 
that  time  some  slight  traces  of  the  unhappy  dissensions  after- 
wards to  arise,  f] 

I  left  Yverdon  in  mid-October  (1805)  with  a  settled  resolution 
'to  return  thither  as  soon  as  possible  for  a  longer  stay.  As  soon 
as  I  got  back  to  Frankfurt,  I  received  my  definite  appointment 
from  the  Consistorium.J  The  work  that  awaited  me  upon  my 
arrival  from  Switzerland  at  the  Model  School  (which  was,  in  fact, 
properly  two  schools,  one  for  boys  and  one  for  girls)  was  a  share 
in  the  arrangement  of  an  entirely  new  educational  course  and 
teaching-plan  for  the  whole  establishment.  The  school  contained 
four  or  five  classes  of  boys  and  two  or  three  of  girls;  altogether 
about  two  hundred  children.  The  staff  consisted  of  four  per- 
manent masters  and  nine  visiting  masters. 

As  I  threw  myself  heartily  into  the  consideration  of  the 
•necessities  and  the  present  position  of  the  school,  and  of  the 
instruction  given  there,  the  working  out  of  this  plan  was  left 
-almost  wholly  in  my  hands,  under  the  conditions  imposed  upon  us. 
The  scheme  I  produced  not  only  succeeded  in  winning  the  appro- 
bation of  the  authorities,  but  proved  itself  during  a  long  period 

*   "  Gekt  und  schatit,  es  geht  un^ehiir  (ttngeketier)." 

t  The  miserable  quarrels  between  Niederer  and  Schmid,  which  so  distressed 
the  later  years  of  Pestalozzi,  are  here  referred  to. 

%  A  Consistorium  in  Germany  is  a  sort  of  clerical  council  or  convocation, 
made  up  of  the  whole  of  the  Established  clergy  of  a  province,  and  supervising 
Church  and  school  matters  throughout  that  province,  under  the  control  of  the 
Ministry  of  Religion  and  Education.  No  educator  could  establish  a  school  or 
take  a  post  in  a  school  without  the  approval  of  this  body. 


58  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

of  service  beneficial  in  the  highest  degree,  both  to  the  institution 
itself  and  to  its  efficiency;  notwithstanding  that  it  put  the 
teachers  to  some  considerable  personal  inconvenience,  as  well  as 
making  larger  claims  upon  their  time  than  was  usual. 

The  subjects  of  instruction  which  fell  to  my  share  were 
arithmetic,  drawing,  physical  geography,  and  German.  I 
generally  taught  in  the  middle  classes.  In  a  letter  to  my  brother 
I  spoke  of  the  impression  made  upon  me  by  my  first  lesson  to 
a  class  of  thirty  or  forty  boys  ranging  from  nine  to  eleven ;  it 
seemed  as  if  I  had  found  something  I  had  never  known,  but 
always  longed  for,  always  missed,  as  if  my  life  had  at  last  dis- 
covered its  native  element.  I  felt  as  happy  as  the  fish  in  the 
water,  the  bird  in  the  air. 

But  before  I  pursue  this  side  of  the  development  of  my  life  I 
must  touch  upon  another  which  was  far  more  important  to  the 
evolution  of  my  character  as  man,  as  teacher,  and  as  educa- 
tionist, and  which,  indeed,  soon  absorbed  the  first  within  itself. 

Not  long  after  my  old  friend,  to  meet  with  whom  I  had  come 
to  Frankfurt,  had  introduced  me  to  Gruner,  he  went  back  himself 
to  his  work  as  private  tutor.  Afterwards  he  heard  of  a  family  (in 
Frankfurt)  desiring  a  private  tutor  for  the  sons.  Since  he  could 
not  introduce  me  personally  to  this  family  he  did  so  by  letter, 
and  several  weeks  before  my  journey  to  Yverdon  he  had,  in  fact, 
written  to  them  about  me  in  very  kindly  terms.  It  was  for  three 
sons  principally  that  instruction  and  education  were  required. 
They  came  to  see  me,  and  after  they  had  gone  their  personal 
peculiarities  and  their  previous  teaching  and  training,  with  the 
results,  were  fully  described  to  me,  and  I  was  then  consulted  as  to 
their  future  education.  Now  to  education  as  an  object*  I  had 
in  truth  nc'ver  yet  given  a  thought,  and  the  question  threw  me  into 
great  perplexity.  Nevertheless  it  required  an  answer,  and  more- 
over a  precise  answer. 

In  the  life  and  circumstances  of  these  lads  I  discovered  frequent 
similarities  with  my  own  boyhood,  which  sprang  to  my  memory 
as  I  listened.     I  could  therefore  answer  the  questions  which  were 

*  That  is,  the  education  of  other  minds  than  his  own ;  something  beyond 
mere  school-teaching. 


Autobiography  of  Froehel,  59 

put  to  me  out  of  the  development  and  educational  experiences  of 
my  own  life  ;  and  my  reply,  torn  as  it  was  from  actual  life,  keenly 
felt  and  vigorously  expressed,  bore  upon  it  the  stamp  of  truth. 
It  was  satisfactory  to  the  parents ;  and  education — development, 
which  hitherto  had  been  subjective  alone  for  me — that  is,  as 
self-development — now  took  an  objective  form,  a  change  which 
was  distinctly  painful  to  me.  Long,  long  it  was  before  I  could 
bring  this  business  of  education  into  a  form  expressible  bywords. 
I  only  knew  education,  and  I  could  only  educate,  through  direct 
personal  association.  This,  then,  I  cultivated  to  the  best  of  my 
power,  following  the  path  whither  my  vocation  and  my  life  now 
called  me. 

To  say  truth,  I  had  a  silent  inward  reluctance  towards  private 
tutorship.  I  felt  the  constant  interruptions  and  the  piece-meal 
nature  of  the  work  inseparable  from  the  conditions  of  the  case, 
and  hence  I  suspected  that  it  might  want  vitality ;  but  the 
trusting  indulgence  with  which  I  was  met,  and  especially  the 
clear,  bright,  friendly  glance  which  greeted  me  from  the  two 
younger  lads,  decided  me  to  undertake  to  give  the  boys  lessons 
for  two  hours  a  day,  and  to  share  their  walks.  The  actual 
teaching  was  to  be  in  arithmetic  and  German.  The  first  was  soon 
arranged.  I  simply  followed  Pestalozzi's  course.  But  as  to  the 
language  I  encountered  great  difficulties.  I  began  by  teaching  it 
from  the  regular  school-books  then  used,  and  indeed  still  in  use. 
I  prepared  myself  to  the  best  of  my  ability  for  each  lesson,  and 
worked  up  whatever  I  felt  m^yself  ignorant  of  in  the  most  careful 
and  diligent  way.  But  the  mode  of  teaching  employed  in  these 
books  frustrated  my  efforts.  I  could  neither  get  on  myself  nor 
get  my  pupils  on  with  it.  So  I  began  to  take  for  my  method 
Pestalozzi's  "  Mothers'  Book."  In  this  way  we  went  on  much 
better,  but  still  I  was  not  satisfied ;  and,  indeed,  I  may  say  that 
for  a  very  long  time  no  system  of  instruction  in  German  did 
satisfy  me. 

In  arithmetic,  by  using  the  "  Tables  of  Units  "*  in  Pestalozzi's 


*  Einertabelle ;  tables  or  formulas  extending  to  units  only ;  a  system  em- 
bodied to  a  large  extent  in  Sonnenschein's  "  ABC  of  Arithmetic,"  for  teaching 
just  the  first  elements  of  the  art. 


6o  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 


pamphlet,  I  arrived  at  the  same  results  which  I  had  seen  in 
Switzerland,  Very  often  my  pupils  had  the  answer  ready  when 
the  last  word  of  the  question  had  scarcely  been  spoken.  Yet  I 
presently  found  out  some  defects  in  this  method  of  teaching,  of 
which  I  shall  speak  later  on.* 

When  we  were  out  walking  together,  I  endeavoured  to  my 
utmost  to  penetrate  into  the  lives  of  the  children,  and  so  to  influ- 
ence  them  for  good.  I  lived  my  own  early  life  over  again,  bui^  in 
a  happier  way,  for  it  now  lay  clear  and  intelligible  before  me  in 
its  special  as  well  as  its  general  characteristics. 

All  my  thoughts  and  work  were  now  directed  to  the  subject  of 
the  culture  and  education  of  man.  This  period  of  my  life  became 
full  of  zeal,  of  active  development,  of  advancing  culture,  and,  in 
consequence,  of  happiness.  And  my  life  in  the  Model  School 
also,  with  my  boys  and  with  my  excellent  colleagues,  unusually 
clever  men,  was  very  elevating  and  encouraging. 

Owing  to  the  position  and  surroundings  of  the  school  buildings, 
which,  though  not  apparently  extensive  as  seen  from  the  street, 
contained  a  considerable  courtyard  and  a  spacious  garden,  the 
scholars  enjoyed  perfect  freedom  of  exercise,  and  could  play  just 
as  they  liked  in  courtyard  or  garden  ;  with  the  result,  moreover, 
of  thereby  affording  a  most  important  opportunity  to  the  various 
teachers  of  becoming  really  intimate  v;ith  the  characters  of  the 
boys  they  taught.  And  there  grew  up  out  of  all  this  a  voluntary 
resolution  on  the  part  of  the  teachers  that  every  teacher  should 
take  his  boys  for  a  walk  once  a  week.  Each  adopted  the  method 
he  liked  best ;  some 'preferred  to  occupy  the  time  of  the  walk  over 
a  permanent  subject;  others  preferred  leaving  the  subject  to  chance. 
I  usually  occupied  my  class  with  botanising ;  and  also  as  geo- 
graphical master,  I  turned  these  occasions  to  profit  by  leading  on 
my  boys  to  think  for  themselves  and  to  apprehend  the  relations  of 
various"  parts  of  the  earth's  surface  :  on  these  and  other  percep- 
tions gained  in  this  way  1  based  my  instruction  in  physiography, 
making  them  my  point  of  departure. 

The  town  was  at  once  my  starting-place  and  my  tentre.     From 

•  Like  other  matters,  this,  too,  has  been  left  undone,  as  far  as  the  present 
(unfinished)  letter  is  concerned. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  6i 


it  I  extended  our  observations  to  the  right  and  to  the  left,  on  this 
side  and  on  that.  I  took  the  river  Main  as  a  base  line,  just  as  it 
lay  ;  or  I  used  the  line  of  hills  or  the  distant  mountains.  I  settled 
firmly  the  direction  of  the  four  quarters  of  the  compass.  In  every- 
thing I  followed  the  leading  of  Nature  hers&lf,  and  with  the  data  so  • 
obtained  I  worked  out  a  representation  of  the  place  from  direct 
observation,  and  on  a  reduced  scale,  in  some  level  spot  of  ground 
or  sandy  tract  carefully  chosen  for  the  purpose.  When  my  repre- 
sentation (or  map)  was  thoroughly  understood  and  well  impressed 
on  every  one's  mind,  then  we  reconstructed  it  in  school  on  a 
black  board  placed  horizontally.  The  map  was  first  sketched 
by  teachers  and  pupils  between  them,  and  then  each  pupil  had 
to  do  it  by  himself  as  an  exercise.  These  representations  of  the 
earth's  surface  of  ours  had  a  round  contour,  resembling  the 
.circular  outline  of  the  visible  horizon. 

At  the  next  public  examination  of  the  school,  I  was  fortunate 
enough,  although  this  first  attempt  was  full  of  imperfections,  to 
win  the  unanimous  approval  of  the  parents  present ;  and  not  only 
that,  but  the  especial  commendation  of  my  superiors.  Every  one 
said,  "  That  is  how  physiography*  should  be  taught.  A  boy  nmst 
first  learn  all  about  his  home  before  he  goes  further  afield."  My 
boys  were  as  well  acquainted  with  the  surroundings  of  the  town 
as  with  their  own  rooms  at  home ;  and  gave  rapid  and  striking 
answers  as  to  all  the  natural  peculiarities  of  the  neighbourhood. 
This  course  v/as  the  fountain-head  of  the  teaching  method  which 
I  afterwards  thoroughly  worked  out,  and  which  has  now  been  in 
use  for  many  years. 

In  arithmetic  I  did  not  take  the  lower,  but  the  middle  classes ; 
and  here  also  my  teaching  received  cheering  encomiums. 

In  drawing  I  also  taught  the  middle  classes.  My  method  in 
this  subject  was  to  work  at  the  thorough  comprehension  and  the 
representation  of  planes  and  solids  in  outline,  rising  from  the 
simplest  forms  to  complex  combinations.  I  not  only  had  the 
gratification  of  obtaining  good  results,  which  thoroughly  satisfied 
ihose  who  tested  them,  but  also  of  seeing  my  pupils  work  with 
pleasure,  with  ardour,  and  with  individuality. 

*  Erdkunde. 


62  Autobiography  oj  Froebel. 


In  the  girls'  school  I  had  to  teach  orthography*  in  one  of  the 
elementary  classes.  This  lesson,  ordinarily  standing  by  itself, 
disconnected  with  anything,  I  based  upon  correct  pronunciation.t 
The  teaching  was  imperfect,  certainly ;  but  it  nevertheless  gained 
an  unmistakable  charm  for  both  teacher  and  pupils  ;  and,  finally^ 
its  results  were  very  satisfactory. 

In  one  of  the  other  classes  of  the  girls'  school  I  taught 
preparatory  drawing.  I  took  this  by  combinations  of  single  lines; 
but  the  method  was  wanting  in  a  logically  necessary  connection, 
so  that  it  did  not  satisfy  me.  I  cannot  remember  whether  the 
results  of  this  teaching  were  brought  to  the  test  or  not. 

Such  was  the  outcome  of  my  first  attempts  as  a  teacher.  The 
kind  indulgence  and  approval  granted  to  me,  more  because  of  my 
good  intentions  and  the  fire  of  my  zeal  than  for  my  actual  per- 
formance, spurred  me  on  to  plunge  deeper  into  the  inquiry 
as  to  the  nature  of  true  teaching.  But  the  whole  system  of  a 
large  school  must  have  its  settled  form,  with  its  previously- 
appointed  teaching-course  arranged  as  to  times  and  subjects ;  and 
everything  must  fit  in  like  a  piece  of  clockwork.  My  system,  on 
the  other  hand,  called  only  for  ready  senses  and  awakened  intellect. 
Set  forms  could  only  tolerate  this  view  of  education  so  far  as  it 
served  to  enliven  and  quicken  them.  But  I  have  unfortunately 
again  and  again  observed  during  my  career,  that  even  the  most 
active  life,  if  its  activity  and  its  vitality  be  not  properly  understood 
and  urged  ever  onward,  easily  stiffens  into  bony  rigidit}^  Enough, 
my  mind,  now  fully  awakened,  could  not  suffer  these  set  forms, 
necessary  though  they  were;  and  I  felt  that  I  must  seek  out  some 
position  in  which  my  nature  could  unfold  itself  freely  accord- 
ing to  the  needs  of  the  development  of  my  life  and  of  my 
mind. 

This  longing  endeavour  of  life  and  mind,  which  could  not 
submit  to  the  fetters  of  external  limitations,  may  have  been  the 
more  exaggerated  at  the  time  by  my  becoming  acquainted  with 
Arndt's  "  Fragments  on  Human  Culture,":;:  which  I  had  purchased. 
This  book  satisfied  at  once  my  character,  my  resolves,  and  my 


*  Recht  schreiben.  -f  ReclU  sprechen. 

J  One  of  Arndt's  pamphlets,  then  quite  rcw. 


Autobiography  of  Frocbcl.  63 


aspirations  ;  and  what  hitherto  lay  isolated  within  me  was  brought 
into  ordered  connection  through  its  pages,  while  ideas  which 
possessed  me  without  my  perceiving  them  took  definite  form  and 
expression  as  the  book  brought  them  to  light.  Indeed,  I  thought 
then  that  Arndt's  book  was  the  bible  of  education. 

In  those  days  I  spoke  of  my  life  and  my  aims  in  the  following 
words  :  "  I  desire  to  educate  men  whose  feet  shall  stand  on 
God's  earth,  rooted  fast  in  Nature,  while  their  head  towers  up  to 
heaven,  and  reads  its  secrets  with  steady  gaze,  whose  heart  shall 
embrace  both  earth  and  heaven,  shall  enjoy  the  life  of  earth  and 
nature  with  all  its  wealth  of  forms,  and  at  the  same  time  shall 
recognise  the  purity  and  peace  of  heaven,  that  unites  in  its  love 
God's  earth  with  God's  heaven."  In  these  phrases  I  now  see  my 
former  life  and  aims  vividly  brought  before  me  as  in  a  picture. 

Little  by  little  a  desire  gained  strength  within  me  to  free 
myself  from  my  engagement  at  the  Model  School,  to  which  I  had 
bound  myself  as  teacher  for  at  least  three  years.  The  headmaster 
(Gruner),  whom  I  have  already  named,  was  sufficiently  a  student 
of  men  to  have  perceived  that  so  excitable  a  man  as  I  could  never 
work  harmoniously  in  such  an  institution  as  that  which  he 
directed ;  so  I  was  released  from  my  engagement,  under  the 
condition  that  I  should  provide  a  suitable  successor.  Fate  was 
propitious  to  me  once  more.  I  found  a  young  private  tutor  with 
whom  I  had  long  been  in  friendly  correspondence,  and  who  had 
all  those  qualities  which  were  lacking  in  me.  He  was  not  only 
thoroughly  proficient  in  the  grammar  of  his  mother  tongue 
(German),  but  also  in  the  grammar  of  the  classical  tongues;  and, 
if  I  am  not  mistaken,  in  French  also.  He  had  a  knowledge  of 
geography  far  beyond  anything  I  could  boast,  was  acquainted  with 
history,  knew  arithmetic,  possessed  some  familiarity  with  botan}', 
— much  greater,  indeed,  than  I  suspected.  And  what  was  worth 
more  than  all  this,  he  was  full  of  vigour  in  mind,  heart,  and  life. 
Therefore  the  school  was  every  way  the  gainer  by  my  departure, 
so  greatly  the  gainer  indeed,  that  from  that  time  no  further  change 
has  been  necessary.  That  same  teacher  still  lives  and  works 
in  that  same  post* 

*  1827. 


^4  Autobiography  oj  Froebel. 


Before  I  begin  a  new  chapter  of  my  career,  there  are  yet  a  few 
things  which  need  mention. 

To  know  French  was  at  that  time  the  order  of  the  day,  and  not 
to  know  it  stamped  a  man  at  once  as  of  a  very  low  degree 
of  culture.  To  acquire  a  knowledge  of  French,  therefore,  became 
one  of  my  chief  aims  at  the  moment.  It  was  my  good  fortune 
to  obtain  instruction  from  an  unrivalled  teacher  of  French,  M. 
Perrault,  a  Frenchman  by  birth,  who  still,  even  though  an  old 
man,  diligently  worked  at  the  study  of  his  mother  tongue,  and 
who  at  the  same  time  wrote  and  spoke  German  with  elegance. 
I  pursued  the  study  with  ardour,  taking  two  lessons  a  day^ 
because  I  desired  to  reach  a  certain  proficiency  by  a  given  time. 
Slow,  however,  were  my  steps,  for  I  was  far  from  having  a 
sufficient  knowledge  of  my  own  tongue  whereon  to  build  a  bridge 
that  might  carry  me  into  French.  I  never  could  properly  acquire 
what  I  did  not  fully  understand  in  such  a  way  that  it  had  a 
living  meaning  for  me ;  and  so  from  all  the  genuine  zeal  and 
considerable  cost  which  I  spent  over  this  study  I  gained  by  no 
means  a  corresponding  result ;  but  I  did  learn  a  good  deal,  much 
more  even  than  I  then  knew  how  to  turn  to  account.  My  teacher 
cast  on  one  side  all  the  usual  grammatical  difficulties  of  French 
study,  he  aimed  at  imparting  the  language  as  a  living  thing.  But 
I  with  my  ignorance  of  language  could  not  completely  follow  this 
free  method  of  teaching ;  and  yet,  nevertheless,  I  felt  that  the 
teacher  had  fully  grasped  the  meaning  and  the  method  of  his 
work,  and  I  always  enjoyed  the  lessons  on  this  account.  He  was 
especially  successful  in  accustoming  my  ear  to  the  French 
pronunciation,  always  separating  and  reducing  it  to  its  simple 
sounds  and  tones,  and  never  merely  saying  "  this  is  pronounced 
like  the  German  p,  or  b,  or  a,  or  o,"  etc.  The  best  thing  resulting 
from  this  course  of  study  was  the  complete  exposure  of  my 
ignorance  of  German  grammar.  I  must  do  myself  the  justice 
to  say  that  I  had  given  myself  extraordinary  trouble  over  the 
works  of  the  most  celebrated  German  grammarians,  trying  to 
bring  life  and  interconnection  or  even  a  logical  consequence  into 
German  grammar  ;  but  I  only  confused  myself  the  worse  thereby. 
One  man  said  one  thing,  another  quite  the  reverse ;  and  not  one 
of  all  of  them,  as  far  as  T  could  see,  had  educed  his  theories  from 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  65 


the  life  and  nature  of  the  speech  itself  I  turned  away  a  second 
time,  quite  disheartened,  from  the  German  grammarians,  and 
once  more  took  my  own  road.  But  unfortunately  the  dry  forms 
of  grammar  had,  quite  against  my  own  will,  stuck  like  scales  over 
my  eyes,  dimming  my  perceptions ;  I  could  find  no  means  to  rid 
myself  of  them,  and  they  wrought  fatally  upon  me  now  and  long 
afterwards.  The  more  thoroughly  I  knew  them  the  more  they 
stiffened  and  crushed  me. 

My  departure  from  the  school  was  now  arranged,  and  I  could 
let  my  mind  pursue  its  development  free  and  unshackled.  As 
heretofore,  so  now  also,  my  kindly  fate  came  lovingly  to 
my  help  :  I  can  never  speak  of  it  with  sufficient  thankfulness. 
The  three  lads  to  whom  I  had  hitherto  given  private  instruction 
in  arithmetic  and  language  now  needed  a  tutor,  as  their  former 
tutor  was  leaving  them.  The  confidential  charge  was  laid  upon 
me,  because  I  of  all  men  best  knew  their  nature  and  its  needs, 
of  seeking  out  some  fit  teacher  and  educator  for  them  from 
amongst  my  acquaintance.  As  for  myself  this  tutor  business  lay 
far  from  my  own  thoughts,  and  I  therefore  looked  round  me  in 
every  direction,  and  with  all  earnestness,  for  some  one  else. 
Amongst  others  I  applied  to  my  eldest  brother,  telling  him  my 
views  as  to  the  necessary  requirements  of  a  true  educator. 

My  brother  wrote  back  very  decidedly  and  simply,  that  he 
could  not  propose  any  one  to  me  as  a  teacher  and  educator  who 
would  fulfil  the  requirements  I  had  set  forth,  and  further,  he  did 
not  think  I  should  ever  be  able  to  find  such  a  person  ;  for  if  one 
should  be  found  possessing  ample  knowledge  and  experience  of 
life  in  its  external  aspects,  he  would  be  deficient  in  a  vigorous 
inner  life  of  his  own,  and  in  the'  power  to  recognise  and  foster 
it  in  himself  and  his  pupils;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  another  man 
who  might  have  this  power  would  be  deficient  in  the  first-named 
(practical)  qualities.  I  reported  the  result  of  my  labours.  It  caused 
much  disappointment,  indeed  it  could  not  be  otherwise,  because 
the  welfare  of  the  children  was  really  sought,  in  all  love  and  truth, 
and  the  highest  and  best  obtainable  at  that  day  was  desired  on 
their  behalf.  The  family  did  not  venture  to  press  the  post  upon 
me  personally,  knowing  my  love  of  freedom  and  independence. 

So  stood  matters  for  several  months.     At  last,  moved  by  my 


66  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

earnest  affection  for  the  lads,  and  by  my  care  to  deserve  the 
confidence  with  which  their  mother  had  entrusted  to  my  hands 
the  provision  for  their  education,  I  endeavoured  to  look  at  things 
from  the  point  of  view  of  their  parents.  This  brought  me  at  last 
to  the  determination  to  become  myself  the  educator  and  teacher 
of  the  lads.  After  a  hard  struggle  with  myself,  the  hardest  and 
most  exhausting  I  had  undergone  for  a  long  time,  I  made  known 
my  decision.  It  was  thankfully  received,  and  understood  quite 
in  the  spirit  which  had  actuated  me  in  forming  it. 

I  communicated  my  decision  to  Gruner,  with  whom  I  still  kept 
in  the  friendliest  relation.  He  looked  at  me  with  downright 
astonishment,  and  said,  "  You  will  lose  all  hopes  of  the  position 
you  have  so  long  sought  and  waited  for."  I  replied  that  I  should 
protect  myself  as  to  my  position  and  my  relations  with  others, by 
a  very  definite  written  contract.  To  which  the  man  of  experience 
retorted,  "  Certainly,  and  everything  will  be  punctually  fulfilled^ 
so  that  you  cannot  say  that  any  one  condition  of  all  those  you 
stood  out  so  firmly  for  has  failed  to  be  observed ;  nevertheless 
you  will  find  you  will  lose  on  all  points."  So  spake  experienced 
shrewdness,  and  what  had  I  to  set  against  it  ?  I  spoke  of  the 
educational  necessities  and  wants  of  these  children.  "  Good," 
said  he,  "  then  you  will  leave  your  own  educational  necessities 
and  your  own  wants  out  of  the  question  ?  "  How  it  mortified 
me,  that  worldly  wisdom  should  be  able  to  speak  thus,  and  that 
I  was  unable  to  controvert  it !  We  talked  no  more  about  the 
matter. 

And  keen  as  was  the  internal  conflict  over  this  decision  and 
this  resolve  of  mine,  equally  keen  was  the  external  contest  which 
I  had  to  wage  in  entering  on  my  new  post. 

There  were,  namely,  two  immutable  conditions  in  our  agree- 
inent.  One  was  that  I  should  never  be  compelled  to  live  in 
town  with  my  pupils,  and  that  when  I  began  my  duties  my 
pupils  should  be  handed  over  entirely  to  my  care,  without  any 
restriction  ;  that  they  should  follow  me  into  the  country,  and  there 
form  a  restricted  and  perfectly  isolated  circle,  and  that  when  they 
returned  to  town  life  my  duties  as  preceptor  should  be  at  an  end. 
The  time  for  beginning  my  new  career  drew  nigh.  As  the 
stipulated  dwelling  for  myself  and  my  pupils  was  not  yet  ready, 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  67 


I  was  expected  to  take  up  my  abode,  for  a  few  days,  with  my 
pupils  in  their  town  house.  But  I  felt  that  it  was  clear  that  the  least 
want  of  firmness  at  the  outset  would  endanger  my  whole  educa- 
tional plan ;  therefore,  I  stood  firm,  and  indeed  gained  my  point, 
though  at  the  price  of  being  called  headstrong,  self-willed,  and 
stubborn.  That  my  assumption  of  my  post  was  attended  with  a 
sharp  contest  was  a  very  good  and  wholesome  discipline  for  me. 
It  was  the  fitting  inauguration  of  a  position  and  a  sphere  of  work 
which  was  henceforth  to  be  attended,  for  me,  with  perpetual  and 
never-ending  strife. 

But  as  to  this  family  and  all  its  members,  my  earnest  unbend- 
ing maintenance  of  my  resolve  had  a  most  wholesome  effect  upon 
them,  even  to  winning  in  the  end  their  comprehension  and 
approval,  though  this  was  later  and  long  after  I  had  quitted  the 
situation.  It  was  ten  or  eleven  years  afterwards — that  is,  four 
or  five  years  after  my  departure — that  the  mother  of  these  lads 
expressed  her  entire  approval  of  the  adamantine  perseverance  I 
had  exhibited  in  my  convictions. 

I  entered  my  new  sphere  of  educational  work  in  July  1807.  I 
was  twenty-five  years  old,  as  far  as  years  went,  but  younger  by 
several  years  in  regard  to  the  development  of  my  character.  I 
neither  felt  myself  so  old  as  I  was,  nor  indeed  had  I  any  con- 
ception or  realisation  of  my  age.  I  was  only  conscious  of  the 
strength  and  striving  of  my  life,  the  extent  of  my  mental  culture, 
the  circumstances  of  my  experience  in  the  world,  and  especially 
of — what  shall  I  call  it  ? — the  shiftlessness  and  undeveloped 
state  of  my  culture  as  far  as  its  helplessness  with  the  external 
world  was  concerned,  of  my  ignorance  of  life  both  as  to  what  it 
really  was,  and  how  it  showed  in  its  outer  aspect.  The  state  of 
my  culture  was  such  as  only  to  serve  to  plunge  me  into  conflict, 
through  the  contradiction  and  opposition  in  which  I  found  mysell 
henceforward  with  all  existing  methods  ;  and  consequently  the 
whole  period  of  my  tutorial  career  was  one  continual  contest. 

It  was  a  salutary  thing  for  me  that  this  was  my  appointed  lot 
from  the  very  beginning.  Now  and  later  on  I  was  therefore  able 
to  say  to  myself  by  way  of  consolation  and  encouragement :  "  You 
knew  beforehand  just  how  it  would  be."  Still,  unpleasantness 
seldom  arrives  in   exactly   the  manner  expected,  and  the  unex- 


68  Autobiography  oj  Froebel. 


pected  is  always  the  hardest  to  bear.  Thus  it  was  with  me  in 
this  case  ;  my  situation  seemed  to  contain  insurmountable  difficul- 
ties. I  sought  the  basis  for  them  in  imperfect  culture ;  and  the 
cause  of  the  disconnected  nature  of  the  culture  I  had  been  able  to 
attain,  lay,  so  I  perceived,  in  the  interruptions  which  marred  my 
university  career.  Educator  and  teacher,  however,  I  had  de- 
termined to  become  and  to  remain  ;  and  as  far  as  I  could  know 
my  own  feelings  and  my  own  powers,  I  must  and  would  work 
out  my  profession  in  an  independent  free  fashion  of  my  own, 
founded  on  the  view  of  man  and  his  nature  and  relationships 
which  had  now  begun  to  dawn  upon  me.  Yet  every  man  finds  it 
above  all  things  difficult  to  understand  himself,  and  especially 
hard  was  it  in  my  own  case.  I  began  to  think  that  I  must  look 
for  help  outside  myself,  and  seek  to  acquire  from  others  the 
knowledge  and  experience  I  needed. 

And  thus  there  came  to  me  once  again  the  idea  of  fitting  myself 
b}'  continuing  my  university  studies  to  become  founder,  principal, 
and  manager  of  an  educational  establishment  of  my  own.  But 
the  fact  was  to  be  considered  that  I  had  turned  away  from  the 
educational  path  on  which  I  had  entered.  Now,  when  the  im- 
perfection of  my  training  pressed  itself  upon  me,  I  not  only  sought 
help  from  Nature  as  of  old,  that  school  allotted  to  me  by  fate,  but 
I  turned  also  for  assistance  to  my  fellow-men  who  had  divided 
out  -the  whole  field  of  education  and  teaching  into  separate  depart- 
ments of  science,  and  had  added  to  these  the  assistance  of  a  rich 
literature.  This  need  of  help  so  troubled  and  oppressed  me,  and 
threw  my  whole  nature  into  such  confusion,  that  I  resolved,  as 
soon  as  might  be,  once  more  to  proceed  to  one  of  the  universities, 
and  necessarily,  therefore,  to  relinquish  as  speedily  as  possible 
my  occupation  as  an  educator. 

As  I  always  discussed  everything  important  with  my  brother, 
I  wrote  to  him  on  this  occasion  as  usual,  telling  him  of  my  plans  and 
of  my  resolve.  But  for  this  time,  at  least,  my  nature  was  able 
to  work  out  its  difficulty  without  his  help.  I  soon  came  to  see 
that  I  had  failed  to  appreciate  my  position,  and  had  misunder- 
stood myself;  and,  therefore,  before  I  had  time  to  get  an  answer 
from  my  brother  to  my  first  letter  I  wrote  to  him  again,  telling 
him  that  my  university  plans  had  been  given  up,  and  that  my 


Aittobiographv  oj  Frocbcl.  69 


fixed  resolve  now  was  to  remain  at  my  post.  He  rejoiced  doubly 
at  my  decision,  because  this  time  he  would  have  been  unable  to 
agree  with  me.* 

No  sooner  had  I  firmly  come  to  my  decision  than  I  began  to 
apply  my  thoughts  vigorously  to  the  subjects  of  education  and 
instruction.  The  first  thing  that  absorbed  me  was  the  clear  con 
viction  that  to  educate  properly  one  must  share  the  life  of  one's 
pupil.  Then  came  the  questions,  "What  is  elementary  educa- 
tion ?  and  of  what  value  are  the  educational  methods  advocated 
by  Pestalozzi  ?     Above  all,  what  is  the  purpose  of  education  ?" 

In  answering  the  question,  "  What  is  the  purpose  of  educa- 
tion ? "  I  relied  at  that  time  upon  the  following  observations  : 
Man  lives  in  a  world  of  objects,  which  influence  him,  and  which 
he  desires  to  influence  ;  therefore  he  ought  to  know  these  objects 
in  their  nature,  in  their  conditions,  and  in  their  relations  with 
each  other  and  with  mankind.  Objects  have  form,  measurement, 
and  number. 

By  the  expression,  "  the  external  world,"  at  this  time  I  meant 
only  Nature ;  my  life  was  so  bound  up  in  natural  objects  that  I 
altogether  passed  by  the  productions  of  man's  art  or  manufacture. 
Therefore  for  a  long  time  it  was  an  effort  to  me  to  regard  man's 
handiwork,  with  Pestalozzi's  scholars,  Tobler  and  Hopf,  as  a 
proper  subject  for  elementary  culture,  and  it  broadened  my 
~  inward  and  outward  glance  considerably  when  I  was  able  to  look 
upon  the  world  of  the  works  of  man  as  also  part  of  the  "  external 
world,"  In  this  way  I  sought,  to  the  extent  of  such  powers  as 
I  consciously  possessed  at  that  time,  to  make  clear  the  meaning 
of  all  things  through  man,  his  relations  with  himself,  and  with 
the  external  world. 

The  most  pregnant  thought  which  arose  in  me  at  this  period 
was  this  :  All  is  unity,  all  rests  in  unity,  all  springs  from  unity, 
strives  for  and  leads  up  to  unity,  and  returns  to  unity  at  last. 
This  striving  in  unity  and  after  unity  is  the  cause  of  the  several 
aspects  of  human  life.  But  between  my  inner  vision  and  my 
outer  perception,  presentation,  and  action  was  a  great  gulf  fixed. 


*  He  w^uld  have  refused  to  countenance  Froebel's  throwing  ap  his  engage- 
ment. 


yo  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

Therefore  it  seemed  to  me  that  everything  which  should  or  could 
be  required  for  human  education  and  instruction  must  be 
necessarily  conditioned  and  given,  by  virtue  of  the  very  nature 
of  the  necessary  course  of  his  development,  in  man's  own  being, 
and  in  the  relationships  amidst  which  he  is  set.  A  man,  it 
seemed  to  me,  would  be  well  educated,  when  he  had  been  trained 
to  care  for  these  relationships  and  to  acknowledge  them,  to  master 
them  and  to  survey  them. 

I  worked  hard,  severely  hard,  during  this  period,  but  both  the 
methods  and  the  aims  of  education  came  before  me  in  such  an 
incoherent  heap,  so  split  up  into  little  fragments,  and  so  entirely 
without  any  kind  of  order,  that  during  several  years  I  did  not 
make  much  progress  towards  my  constant  purpose  of  bringing 
all  educational  methods  into  an  orderly  sequence  and  a  living 
unity.  As  my  habitual  and  therefore  characteristic  expression 
of  my  desires  then  ran,  I  longed  to  see,  to  know,  and  to  show 
forth,  all  things  in  inter-connection. 

For  my  good  fortune,  however,  there  came  out  about  that  time 
certain  educational  writings  by  Seiler,*  Jean  Paul,f  and  others. 
They  supported  and  elevated  me,  sometimes  by  their  concurrence 
with  my  own  views,  expressed  above,  sometimes  by  the  very 
contrary. 

The  Pestalozziau  method  I  knew,  it  is  true,  in  its  main 
principles,  but  not  as  a  living  force,  satisfying  the  needs  of  man. 
What  especially  lay  heavy  upon  me  at  this  time,  however,  pain- 
fully felt  by  myself  though  not  apparent  to  my  pupils,  was  the 
utter  absence  of  any  organised  connection  between  the  subjects 
of  education.  Joyful  and  unfettered  work  springs  from  the  con- 
ception of  all  things  as  one  whole,  and  forms  a  life  and  a  lifework 


*  Geoig  Friediich  Seiler  (1733-1807),  a  Bavarian  by  birth,  became  a  liighly- 
esteemctl  clergyman  in  Coburg.  He  wrote  on  religious  and  moral  subjects, 
and  those  amongst  the  list  of  his  works,  the  most  likely  to  be  alluded  to  by 
Froebel,  are  "A  Bible  for  Teachers."  "Methods  of  Religious  Teaching  for 
Schools,"   "  Religious  Culture  for  the  Young,"  etc. 

t  Jean  Paul  Kriedrich  Richter  (1763- 1825).  No  doubt  the  celebrated 
"  Levana,"  Richter's  educational  masterpiece,  which  was  published  in  this 
same  year,  1S07,  is  here  alluded  to. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  71 


in  harmony  with   the  constitution   of  the   universe  and  resting 
firmly  upon  it. 

That  this  was  the  true  education  I  soon  felt  fervently  con- 
vinced, and  so  my  first  educational  work  consisted  merely  in 
being  with  my  pupils  and  influencing  them  by  the  power  of  my 
life  and  work ;  more  than  this  I  was  not  at  all  in  a  position  to 
give. 

Oh,  why  is  it  that  man  knows  so  ill  and  prizes  so  little  the 
blessings  that  he  possesses  for  the  first  time  ? 

When  I  now  seek  to  make  myself  clear  as  to  the  proper  life 
and  work  of  an  educator,  my  notes  of  that  time  rise  fresh  and 
fair  to  meet  me.  I  look  back  from  now  into  that  childhood  of  my 
teacher's  life,  and  learn  from  it;  just  as  I  look  back  into  the 
childhood  of  my  man's  life,  and  survey  that,  and  learn  from  that, 
too.  Why  is  all  childhood  and  youth  so  full  of  wealth  and  so 
unconscious  of  it,  and  why  does  it  lose  it  without  knowing  it  only 
to  learn  what  it  possessed  when  it  is  for  ever  lost  ?  Ought  this 
always  to  be  so  ?  Ought  it  to  be  so  for  every  child,  for  every 
youth  ?  Will  not  a  time  come  at  last,  come  perhaps  soon,  when 
the  experience,  the  insight,  the  knowledge  of  age,  and  wisdom 
herself,  shall  build  up  a  defence,  a  shelter,  a  protection  for  the 
childhood  of  youth  ?  Of  what  use  to  mankind  is  the  old  man's 
experience  and  the  grej'beard's  wisdom  when  they  sink  into  the 
grave  with  their  possessors  ? 

At  first  my  life  and  my  work  with  my  pupils  was  confined 
within  narrow  limits.  It  consisted  in  merely  living,  lounging,  and 
strolling  in  the  open  air,  and  going  for  walks.  Although  I  was  dis- 
gusted with  the  methods  of  town  education,  I  did  not  yet  venture 
to  convert  life  amidst  Nature  into  an  educational  course.  That 
was  taught  me  by  my  young  pupils  themselves ;  and  as  from  the 
circumstances  of  my  own  culture  I  eagerly  fostered  to  my  utmost 
every  budding  sense  for  Nature  that  showed  itself,  there  soon 
developed  amongst  them  a  life-encompassing,  life-giving,  and  life- 
raising  enjoyment  of  natural  objects.  In  the  following  year  *  this 
way  of  life  was  further  enhanced  by  the  father  giving  his  sons  a 
piece  of  meadowland  for  a  garden,  at  the  cultivation  of  which  we 

*  1808. 


72  Autobiography  oj  Froebel. 

accordingly  worked  in  common.  The  greatest  delight  of  my 
pupils  was  to  make  little  presents  of  the  produce  of  their  garden  ^ 
to  their  parents  and  also  to  me.  How  their  eyes  would  gleam 
wit'h  pleaslire  when  they  were  fortunate  enough  to  be  able  to 
accomplish  this.  Pretty  plants  and  little  shrubs  from  the  fields, 
the  great  garden  of  God,  were  transplanted  by  us  to  the 
children's  gardens,  and  there  carefully  tended.  Great  was  the  joy, 
especially  of  the  two  younger  ones,  when  such  a  colonist  frankly 
enrolled  himself  amongst  the  citizens  of  the  state.  From  this 
time  forth  my  own  childhood  no  longer  seemed  wasted.  I 
acknowledged  how  entirely  different  a  thing  is  the  cultivation  ot 
plants,  to  one  who  has  watched  them  and  studied  them  in  all  the 
stages  of  their  own  free  development,  from  what  it  is  to  one  who 
has  always  stood  aloof  from  Nature. 

And  here  already,  living  cheerfully  and  joyfully  in  the  bosom  \^ 
of  Nature  with  my  first  pupils,  I  began  to  tell  myself  that  the  train-  /\ 
ing  of  natural  life  was  closely  akin  to  the  training  of  human  life. 
/  For  did  not  those  gifts  of  flowers  and  plants  express  appreciation 
I  and  acknowledgment  of  the  love  of  parents  and  teacher  ?  Were  they 
not  the  outcome  of  the  characteristic  lovingness  and  the  enthusias- 
tic thankfulness  of  childhood  ?  A  child  that  of  its  own  accord  and 
of  its  own  free  will  seeks  out  flowers,  cares  for  them,  and  protects 
them,  so  that  in  due  time  he  can  weave  a  garland  or  make  a 
nosegay  with  them  for  his  parents  or  his  teacher,  can  never 
become  a  bad  child,  a  wicked  man.  Such  a  child  can  easily  be 
led  towards  love,  towards  thankfulness,  towards  recognition  ot 
the  fatherliness  of  God,  who  gives  him  these  gifts  and  permits 
them  to  grow  that  he,  as  a  cheerful  giver  in  his  turn,  may  gladden 
with  them  the  hearts  of  his  parents. 

That  time  of  conflict  contained  within  it  an  element  of  special 
and  peculiar  meaning  to  myself.  It  brought  before  me  my  past 
life  in  its  many  various  stages  of  development ;  and  especiallj'^  the 
chief  events  which  had  formed  and  influenced  it,  with  their 
causes  and  their  effects.  And  it  always  seemed  to  me  of  particular 
importance  to  go  back  upon  the  very  earliest  occurrences  in  my 
life.  But  of  the  actual  matters  of  fact  of  my  earliest  years  very 
few  traces  now  remained ;  for  my  mother,  who  could  have  kept 
them  in  her   memory  for  me,  and  from  whona  I  could  now  have 


Autobiography  of  Frocbel.  73 

learnt  them,  had  died  even  before  my  life  had  really  awakened. 
Amongst  the  few  relics  remaining  to  me  was  a  written  address 
from  my  godmother  (the  so-called  Baptismal  Letter),  which  she  had 
sent  me  immediately  after  my  baptism,  according  to  the  Thuringian 
custom  of  the  time,  as  a  sort  of  portion  or  dowry  for  my  entrance 
into  life.  It  had  come  into  my  possession  after  the  death  of 
my  father.  This  letter,  of  a  simple.  Christian,  tenderly  religious, 
womanly  soul,  expressed  in  plain  and  affecting  terms  the  true  re- 
lation of  the  young  Christian  to  that  to  which  by  his  baptism  he 
had  become  bound.  Through  these  words  the  inner  life  of  both 
mind  and  soul,  of  my. boyhood  and  of  my  youth,  was  brought 
before  me  with  all  its  peace  and  blessedness ;  and  I  could  not 
help  seeing  how  much  that  I  then  longed  for  had  since  come  to 
pass.  My  soul,  upon  this  thought,  regained  that  original  inspirit- 
ing, enlightening,  and  quickening  unity  of  which  I  stood  so  much 
in  need.  But  at  the  same  time  all  the  resolutions  of  my  boyhood 
and  youth  also  rushed  back  upon  me,  and  made  it  manifest  how 
much  more  had  yet  to  happen  before  they,  too,  were  accomplished ; 
and  with  them  they  brought  the  memory  of  those  types  and  ideals 
with  which  the  feeble  boyish  imagination  had  sought  to  strengthen 
itself.  But  my  life  had  been  far  too  much  an  inward  and  strictly 
personal  life  to  have  been  able,  or  even  to  have  dared  to  stand 
forth  in  any  outwardly  definite  form,  or  to  take  any  fixed  relation 
to  other  lives,  except  in  matters  of  feeling  and  intelligence. 
Indeed  the  power  of  manifesting  myself  properly  was  a  very 
late  accomplishment  with  me,  and  was,  in  fact,  not  gained  until 
long  after  the  recommencement  of  my  present  educational  work.* 
I  cannot  now  remember,  during  all  the  time  of  this  educational 
work,  that  my  personal  fife  stood  out  in  any  way  from  the  usual 
ordinary  existence  of  men  ;  but  before  I  can  speak  with  certainty 
upon  this  point  I  must  procure  information  as  to  the  circumstances 
of  my  earlier  life.  This  much  is  clear,  that  my  life  at  the  time 
I  am  speaking  of  has  remained  in  my  memory  only  in  its  general 
ordinary  human  aspect.     It  is  true,  however,  that  then,  as  always 


*  This  is  in  1827.  But  the  expression  of  his  thought  remained  a  difficult 
matter  with  Fioebel  to  the  end  of  his  hfe,  a  drawback  to  which  many  of  his 
friends  have  borne  witness;  for  instance,  Madame  von  Marenlioltz-Biilow. 


^4  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 


in  my  later  life,  it  was  and  ever  has  been  very  difficult  to  me  to 
separate  in  thought  my  inner  life  from  my  outer,  and  to  give 
definite  form  and  outward  expression  to  the  inner  life,  especially 
as  to  religious  matters. 

I  dare  not  deny,  that  although  the  definite  religious  forms  of 
the  Church  reached  my  heart  readily  both  by  way  of  the  emotions 
and  by  sincere  conviction,  and  cleansed  and  quickened  me,  yet  I 
have  alwaj's  felt  great  reluctance  to  speak  of  these  definite  religious 
forms  with  others,  particularly  with  pupils  and  students.  I  could 
never  make  them  so  clear  and  living  to  a  simple  healthy  soul  as 
they  were  to  myself.  From  this  I  conclude  that  the  naturally 
trained  child  requires  no  definite  Church  forms,  because  the 
lovingly-fostered,  and  therefore  continuously  and  powerfully- 
developed  human  life,  as  well  as  the  untroubled  child-life  also, 
is  and  must  be  in  itself  a  Christian  life.  I  further  conclude  that 
a  child  to  whom  the  deeper  truths  of  life  or  of  religion  were 
given  in  the  dogmatic  positive  forms  of  Church  creeds  would  im- 
peratively need  when  a  young  man  to  be  surrounded  by  pure  and 
manly  lives,  whereby  those  rigid  creeds  might  be  illuminated  and 
quickened  into  life.  Otherwise  the  child  runs  great  danger  of 
casting  away  his  whole  higher  life  along  with  the  dogmatic 
religious  forms  which  he  has  been  unable  to  assimilate.  There, 
indeed,  is  the  most  elevated  faith  to  be  found,  where  form  and 
life  work  towards  a  whole,  shed  light  upon  each  other,  and  go 
side  by  side  in  a  sisterly  concord,  like  the  inward  life  with  the 
outward  life,  or  the  special  with  the  universal. 

But  1  must  return  from  this  long  digression,  and  resume  the 
account  of  my  life  and  work  as  an  educator. 

Bodily  exercises  were  as  yet  unknown  to  me  in  their  educa- 
tional capacity.  I  was  acquainted  only  with  jumping  over  a  cord 
and  with  walking  on  stilts  thiough  my  own  boyish  practice 
therein.  As  they  fell  into  no  relation  with  our  common  life, 
neither  with  the  pursuits  and  thoughts  of  my  pupils  nor  with  my 
own,  we  regarded  them  purely  as  childish  games. 

What  the  year  brings  to  a  man  in  the  season  when  Nature  lies 
clear  and  open  before  him,  that  it  does  not  bring  to  him  in  the 
season  when  Nature  is  more  often  locked  away  from  his  gaze. 
An  1  as  the  two  seasons  bring  diverse  gifts,  so  do  they  require 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  75 


<iiverse  things  in  return.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  year,  when 
man  is  perforce  driven  more  upon  himself,  his  occupations  should 
take  on  more  narrowly  personal  characteristics.  Just  as  the 
winter's  life  with  nature  is  more  fixed  and  narrowed,  so  also  is 
the  winter's  life  with  men  ;  therefore,  a  boy's  life  at  this  time 
needs  material  of  some  definite  fashion,  or  needs  fashionless  ma- 
terial which  can  be  shaped  into  definite  fashion.  My  pupils  soon 
came  to  me,  urged  by  this  new  necessity.  What  life  requires 
that  life  provides,  wherever  life  is  or  has  been  ;  what  youth 
requires  that  youth  provides,  wherever  youth  is  or  has  been.  And 
what  the  later  man's  life  requires  from  a  man,  or  from  men  in 
general,  that  also  is  provided  by  the  boy's  life  and  the  youth's  life 
when  these  have  been  genuinely  lived  through.  The  demand  of 
my  pupils  set  me  upon  the  following  question  :  "  What  did  you 
do  as  a  boy  ?  What  happened  to  you  to  satisfy  that  need  of 
yours  for  something  to  do  and  to  express  ?  By  what,  at  the  same 
period  of  your  life,  was  this  need  most  fully  met,  or  what  did  you 
then  most  desire  for  this  purpose  ?  "  Then  there  came  to  me  a 
memory  from  out  my  earliest  boyhood,  which  yielded  me  all  I 
wanted  in  my  emergency.  It  was  the  easy  art  of  impressing 
figures  and  forms  by  properly  arranged  simple  strokes  on  smooth 
paper.*  I  have  often  made  use  of  this  simple  art  in  my  later  life, 
and  have  never  found  it  fail  in  its  object ;  and  on  this  occasion,  too, 
it  faithfully  served  my  pupils  and  me,  for  our  skill,  at  first  weak 
both  on  the  part  of  teacher  and  pupil,  grew  rapidly  greater  with 
use. 

From  these  forms  impressed  upon  paper  we  rose  to  making 
forms  out  of  paper  itself,  and  then  to  producing  forms  in  paste- 
board, and  finally  in  wood.  My  later  experience  has  taught  me 
much  more  as  to  the  best  shapes  and  materials  for  the  study  of 
forms,t  of  which  I  shall  speak  in  its  proper  place. 

I  must,  however,  permit  myself  to  dwell  a  little  upon  this 
extremely  simple  occupation  of  impressing  forms  on  paper, 
because  at  the  proper  age  it  quite  absorbs  a  boy,  and  completely 

•  Probably  done  with  tbe  point  of  a  knitting  needle,  etc.      The  design  is 
th£n  visible  on  ihc  other  side  of  the  paper  in  an  embossed  form, 
t  This  account  is  dated  1827,  it  is  always  necessary  to  remember. 


^6  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

fills  and  contents  the  demands  of  his  faculties.  Why  is  this  ?  It 
gives  the  boy,  easily  and  spontaneously,  and  yet  at  the  same  time 
imperceptibly,  precise,  clear,  and  many-sided  results  due  to  his  own 
creative  power. 

Man  is  compelled  not  only  to  recognise  Nature  in  her  manifold 
forms  and  appearances,  but  also  tor  understand  her  in  the  unity  of 
her  inner  working,  of  her  effective  force.  Therefore  he  himself 
follows  Nature's  methods  in  the  course  of  his  own  development 
and  culture,  and  in  his  games  he  imitates  Nature  at  her  work  of 
creation.  The  earliest  natural  formations,  the  fixed  forms  of 
crystals,  seem  as  if  driven  together  by  some  secret  power  external 
to  themselves  ;  and  the  boy  in  his  first  games  gladly  imitates  these 
first  activities  of  nature,  so  that  by  the  one  he  may  learn  to  com- 
prehend the  other.  Does  not  the  boy  take  pleasure  in  building, 
and  what  else  are  the  earliest  fixed  forms  of  Nature  but  built-up 
forms  ?  However,  this  indication  that  a  higher  meaning  under- 
lies the  occupation  and  games  which  children  choose  out  for 
themselves  must  for  the  present  suffice.  And  since  these  spon- 
taneous activities  of  children  have  not  yet  been  thoroughly  thought 
out  from  a  high  point  of  view,  and  have  not  yet  been  regarded 
from  what  I  might  almost  call  their  cosmical  and  anthropological 
side,  we  may  from  day  to  day  expect  some  philosopher  to  write  a 
comprehensive  and  important  book  about  them.*  From, the  love, 
the  attention,  the  continued  interest  and  the  cheerfulness  with 
w^hich  these  occupations  are  plied  by  children  other  important 
considerations  also  arise,  of  quite  a  different  character, 

A  boy's  game  necessarily  brings  him  into  some  wider  or  fuller 
relationship,  into  relationship  with  some  more  elevated  group  of 

*  After  all,  the  work  was  kft  to  Froebel  himself  to  do.  These  words  were 
written  in  1827.  The  "  Menschen  Erzichung "  of  Froebel  ("Education  of 
Man  "),  which  appeared  the  year  before,  had  also  touched  upon  the  sul)ject. 
It  was  further  developed  in  his  "  Mutter  und  Koselieder"  ("Mother's  Songs 
and  Gaines"),  in  which  his  first  wife  assisted  him.  That  appeared  in  183S. 
In  the  same  year  was  also  founded  the  Sonntags-Blalt  {Siniday  Jourual'),  to 
which  many  essays  and  articles  on  this  subject  were  contributed  by  Froebel. 
The  third  volume  ("  Padagogik  ")  of  Dr.  Wichard  Lange's  complete  edition  of 
Froebel's  works  is  largely  made  up  of  these  Sonntags-BUitt  articles.  The  whole 
Kindergarten  system  rests  mainly  on  this  higher  view  of  children's  play.  \ 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  yy 


ideas.  Is  he  building  a  house  ? — he  builds  it  so  that  he  may  dwell 
in  it  like  grown-up  people  do,  and  have  just  such  another  cup- 
board, and  so  forth,  as  they  have,  and  be  able  to  give  people  things 
out  of  it  just  as  they  do.  And  one  must  always  take  care  of  this : 
that  the  child  who  receives  a  present  shall  not  have  his  nature 
cramped  and  stunted  thereby ;  according  to  the  measure  of  how 
much  he  receives,  so  much  must  he  be  able  to  give  away.  In  fact 
this  is  a  necessity  for  a  simple-hearted  child.  Happy  is  that  little 
one  who  understands  how  to  satisfy  this  need  of  his  nature,  to 
give  by  producing  various  gifts  of  his  own  creation  !  As  a  perfect 
child  of  humanity,  a  boy  ought  to  desire  to  enjoy  and  to  bestow  to 
the  very  utmost,  for  he  dimly  feels  already  that  he  belongs  to  the 
i____jwhole,  to  the  universal,  to  the  comprehensive  in  Nature,  and  it  is 
as  part  of  this  that  he  lives  ;  therefore,  as  such  would  he  accord- 
ingl}'  be  considered  and  so  treated.  When  he  has  felt  this,  the 
most  important  means  of  development  available  for  a  human  being 
at  this  stage  has  been  discovered.  With  a  well-disposed  child  at 
such  a  time  nothing  has  any  value  except  as  it  may  serve  for  a 
common  possession,  for  a  bond  of  union  between  him  and  his 
beloved  ones.  This  aspect  of  the  child's  character  must  be  care- 
fully noticed  by  parents  and  by  teachers,  and  used  by  them  as  a 
means  of  awakening  and  developing  the  active  and  presentative 
side  of  his  nature  ;  wherefore  none,  not  even  the  simplest  gifts 
from  a  child,  should  ever  be  suffered  to  be  neglected. 

To  sketch  my  first  attempt  as  an  educator  in  one  phrase,  I 
sought  with  all  my  powers  to  give  my  pupils  the  best  possible 
instruction,  and  the  best  possible  training  and  culture,  but  I  was 
unable  to  fulfil  my  intentions,  to  attain  my  end,  in  the  position 
I  then  occupied,  and  with  the  degree  of  culture  to  which  I  had 
myself  attained. 

As  soon  as  this  had  becom.e  fully  evident  to  me,  it  occurred 
to  my  mind  that  nothing  else  could  be  so  serviceable  to  me 
as  a  sojourn  for  a  time  with  Pestalozzi.  1  expressed  my  views 
on  this  head  very  decidedly,  and  accordingly,  in  the  summer  of 
1808,  it  was  agreed  that  I  should  take  my  three  pupils  with  me  to 
Yverdon. 

So  it  soon  afterwards  came  about  I  was  teacher  and  scholar, 
•educator  and  pupil,  all  at  the  same  time. 


78  Autobiography  of  Froehel. 


If  I  were  to  attempt  to  put  into  one  sentence  all  I  expected  to 
find  at  Yverdon,  I  should  say  it  was  a  vigorous  inner  life  amongst 
the  boys  and  youths,  quickening,  manifesting  itself  in  all  kinds  of 
creative  activity,  satisfying  the  manysidedness  of  man,  meeting 
all  his  necessities,  and  occupying  all  his  powers  both  mental  and 
bodily.  Pestalozzi,  so  1  imagined,  must  be  the  heart,  the  life- 
source,  the  spiritual  guide  of  this  life  and  work  ;  from  his  central 
point  he  must  watch  over  the  boy's  life  in  all  its  bearings,  see 
it  in  all  its  stages  of  development,  or  at  all  events  sympathise 
with  it  and  feel  with  it,  whether  as  the  life  of  the  individual,  of 
the  femily,  of  the  community,  of  the  nation,  of  mankind  at  large. 

With  such  expectations  I  arrived  at  Yverdon.  There  was  no 
educational  problem  whose  resolution  I  did  not  firmly  expect  to 
find  there.  That  my  soul  soon  faithfully  mirrored  the  life  which 
there  flowed  around  me,  my  report  for  1809  sufficiently  shows.''' 

To  throw  myself  completely  into  the  midst,  into  the  very 
heart,  of  Pestalozzi's  work,  I  wished  to  live  in  the  main  buildings 
of  the  institution,  that  is  to  say,  in  the  castle  itself.f  We  would 
have  cheerfully  shared  the  lot  of  the  ordinary  scholars,  but  our 
wish  could  not  be  granted,  some  outside  jealousies  standing  in 
the  way.  However,  I  soon  found  a  lodging  in  immediate  prox- 
imity to  the  institution,  so  that  we  were  able  to  join  the  pupils  at 
their  dinner,  their  evening  meal,  and  their  supper,  and  to  take 
part  in  the  whole  courses  of  their  instruction,  so  far  as  the 
subjects  chosen  by  us  were  concerned ;  indeed,  to  share  in  their 
whole  life.  I  soon  saw  much  that  was  imperfect ;  but,  notwith- 
standing, the  activity  which  pressed  forth  on  all  sides,  the 
vigorous  effort,  the  spiritual  endeavour  of  the  life  around  me, 
which  carried  me  away  with  it  as  it  did  all  other  men  who 
came  within  its  influence,  convinced  me  that  here  I  should  pre- 
sently be  able  to  resolve  all  my  difficulties.     As  far  as  regarded 


*  A  report  that  Froebel  drew  up  for  the  Princess  Regent  of  RudolstacU  in 
1809,  giving  a  voluminous  account  of  the  theory  and  practice  pursued  at 
Yverdon  (Wichard's  •'  Froebel,"  vol.  i.,  p.   154). 

t  The  castle  of  Yverdon,  an  old  feudal  stronghold,  which  Pestalozzi  had 
received  from  the  municipality  of  that  town  in  1804,  to  enable  him  to  establish 
a  school  and  work  out  his  educational  system  there. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  79 


myself  personally,  I  had  nothing  more  earnest  to  do  for  the  time 
than  to  watch  that  my  pupils  gained  the  fullest  possible  profit 
from  this  life  which  was  so  rich  in  vigour  for  both  body  and 
soul.  Accordingly  we  shared  all  lessons  together ;  and  I  made  it 
my  special  business  to  reason  out  with  Pestalozzi  each  branch  of 
instruction  from  its  first  point  of  connection  with  the  rest,  and 
thus  to  study  it  from  its   very  root. 

The  forcible,  comprehensive,  stimulating  life  stimulated  me  too, 
and  seized  upon  me  with  all  its  comprehensiveness  and  all  its 
force.  It  is  true  it  could  not  blind  me  to  many  imperfections 
and  deficiencies,  but  these  were  retrieved  by  the  general  tendency 
and  endeavour  of  the  whole  system ;  for  this,  though  containing 
several  absolute  contradictions,  manifest  even  at  that  time,  yet 
vindicated  on  a  general  view  its  inner  connection  and  hidden 
unity.  The  powerful,  indefinable,  stirring,  and  uplifting  effect 
produced  by  Pestalozzi  when  he  spoke,  set  one's  soul  on  fire  for 
a  higher,  nobler  life,  although  he  had  not  made  clear  or  sure  the 
exact  way  towards  it,  nor  indicated  the  means  whereby  to  attain 
it.  Thus  did  the  power  and  manysidedness  of  the  educational 
effort  make  up  for  deficiency  in  unity  and  comprehensiveness ; 
and  the  love,  the  warmth,  the  stir  of  the  whole,  the  human  kind- 
ness and  benevolence  of  it  replaced  the  want  of  clearness,  depth, 
thoroughness,  extent,  perseverance,  and  steadiness.  In  this  way 
each  separate  branch  of  education  was  in  such  a  condition  as  to 
powerfully  interest,  but  never  wholly  to  content  the  observer, 
since  it  prepared  only  further  division  and  separation  and  did  not 
tend  towards  unity. 

The  want  of  unity  of  effort,  both  as  to  means  and  aims,  I  soon 
felt ;  I  recognised  it  in  the  inadequacy,  the  incompleteness,  and 
the  unlikeness  of  the  ways  in  which  the  various  subjects  were 
taught.  Therefore  I  endeavoured  to  gain  the  greatest  possible 
insight  into  all,  and  became  a  scholar  in  all  subjects — arithmetic, 
form,  singing,  reading,  drawing,  language,  physical  geography, 
the  natural  sciences,  etc. 

I  could  see  something  higher,  and  I  believed  in  a  higher 
efficiency,  a  closer  unity  of  the  whole  educational  system ;  in 
truth,  I  believed  I  saw  this  clearer,  though  not  with  greater  con- 
viction,  than   Pestalozzi   himself.     I   held  that  land  happy,   that 


8o  Autobiography  of  Froebel 


man  fortunate,  by  whom  the  means  of  true  education  should  be 
developed  and  applied,  and  the  wish  to  see  this  benefit. conferred 
upon  my  country  naturally  sprang  from  the  love  I  bore  my  native 
land.-''  The  result  was  the  written  record  of  1809  already  re- 
ferred to. 

Where  there  is  the  germ  of  disunion,  where  the  whole  is  split 
up,  even  sometimes  into  contradictory  parts,  and  where  an  abso- 
lute reconciling  unity  is  wanting,  where  what  connection  there 
may  be  is  derived  rather  from  casual  outward  ties  than  from 
inner  necessary  union,  the  whole  system  must  of  necessity  dig  its 
own  grave,  and  become  its  own  murderer.  Now  it  was  exactly  at 
such  a  time  of  supreme  crisis  that  I  had  the  good  or  the  evil  fortune 
to  be  at  Yverdon.  All  that  was  good  and  all  that  was  bad,  all 
that  was  profitable  and  all  that  was  unprofitable,  all  that  was 
strong  and  all  that  was  weak,  all  that  was  empty  and  all  that  was 
full,  all  that  was  selfish  and  all  that  was  unselfish  amongst 
Pestalozzi  and  his  friends,  was  displayed  openly  before  me. 

I  happened  to  be  there  precisely  at  the  time  of  the  great  Com- 
mission of  18 10.  Neither  Pestalozzi  nor  his  so-called  friends, 
neither  an}'  individuals  nor  the  whole  community,  could  give  me, 
or  would  give  me,  what  I  wanted.  In  the  methods  laid  down  by 
them  for  teaching  boys,  for  the  thorough  education  of  boys  as  part 
of  one  great  human  family,- — that  is,  for  their  higher  instruction, — 
I  failed  to  find  that  comprehensiveness  which  is  alone  sufficient  to 
satisfy  the  human  being.  Thus  it  was  with  natural  history,  natural 
science,  German,  and  language  generally,  with  history,  and  above 
all,  with  religious  instruction.  Pestalozzi's  devotional  addresses 
were  very  vague,  and,  as  experience  showed,  were  only  service- 
able to  those  already  in  the  right  way.f     I  spoke  of  all  these 


*  Froebel  desired  to  see  in  Rudolstadt,  or  elsewhere  in  Tliuringia  (his  "  native 
land  "),  an  institution  like  that  of  Pestalozzi  at  'S'verdon  ;  and  he  soiij^ht  to 
interest  the  Princess  Regent  of  Rudolstadt  by  the  full  account  of  Yverdon  already 
mentioned. 

t  This  would  scarcely  seem  probable  to  those  who  admire  and  love  Pesta- 
lozzi. But  we  must  lemember  that  relii^ious  teaching  appeals  so  intimately  to 
individual  sympathies  that  it  is  quite  possible  that  what  was  of  vital  service  to 
many  others  was  not  of  so  much  use  to  Froebel,  who  was,  as  he  frankly  admits, 
out  of  harmony  on  many  points  with  his  noble-hearted  teacher. 


Autobiography  oj  Froebel.  8 1 


things  very  earnestly  and  decidedly  with  Pestalozzi,  and  at  last  I 
made  up  my  mind,  in  iSio,  to  quit  Yverdon  along  with  my 
pupils. 

But  before  I  continue  further  here,  it  is  my  duty  to  consider  my 
life  and  work  from  yet  another  point  of  view. 

Amongst  the  various  branches  of  education,  the  teaching  of 
languages  struck  me  with  especial  force  as  defective,  on  account 
of  its  great  imperfection,  its  capriciousness  and  lifelessness.  The 
search  for  a  satisfactory  method  for  our  native  language  occupied 
me  in  preference  to  anything  else.  I  proceeded  on  the  fol- 
lowing basis : — 

Language  is  an  image,  a  representation  of  our  separate  (subject) 
world,  and  becomes  manifest  to  the  (object)  world  outside  our- 
selves principally  through  combined  and  ordered  sounds.  If, 
therefore,  I  would  image  forth  anything  correctly,  I  must  know 
the  real  nature  of  the  original  object.  The  theme  of  our  imagery 
and  representation,  the  outside  world,  contains  objects,  therefore 
I  must  have  a  definite  form,  a  definite  succession  of  sounds,  a 
definite  word  to  express  each  object.  The  objects  have  qualities, 
therefore  our  language  must  contain  adjectives  expressing  these 
qualities.  The  qualities  of  objects  are  fundamental  or  relative ; 
express  what  they  are,  what  they  possess,  and  what  they 
become. 

Passing  now  to  singing  and  music,  it  happened  very  luckily  for 
me  that  just  at  this  time  Nageli  and  Pfeifer  brought  out  their 
"Treatise  on  the  Construction  of  a  Musical  Course  according  to  the 
Principles  of  Pestalozzi."  Nageli's  knowledge  of  music  generally, 
and  especially  of  church  music,  made  a  powerful  impression  upon 
me,  and  brought  music  and  singing  before  me  as  a  means  for  human 
culture  ;  setting  the  cultivation  of  music,  and  especially  of  singing, 
in  a  higher  light  than  I  had  ever  conceived  possible.  Nageli  was 
very  capable  in  teaching  music  and  singing,  and  in  representing 
their  function  as  inspiring  aids  to  pure  human  life ;  and  although 
nearly  twenty  years  have  elapsed  since  I  heard  those  lessons  of 
his,  the  fire  of  the  love  for  music  which  they  kindled  burns  yet, 
active  for  good,  within  my  breast.  And  further,  I  was  taught 
and  convinced  by  these  two  super-excellent  music  teachers,  who 
.instructed   my  pupils,  that   purely  instrumental   music,  such  as 


82  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 


that  of  the  violin  or  of  the  pianoforte,  is  also  in  its  essence  based 
upon  and  derived  from  vocal  music,  though  developed  through 
the  independent  discovery  of  a  few  simple  sound-producing  instru- 
ments. Not  only  have  I  never  since  left  the  path  thus  opened  to 
me  at  its  origin,  but  I  have  consistently  traced  it  onwards  in  all 
care  and  love,  and  continue  to  rejoice  in  the  excellent  results 
obtained.  This  course  of  music-teaching,  as  extended  and  applied 
later  on,  has  always  enjoyed  the  approbation  of  the  thoughful  and 
experienced  amongst  music  teachers. 

I  also  studied  the  boys'  play,  the  whole  series  of  games  in 
the  open  air,  and  learned  to  recognise  their  mighty  power  to 
awake  and  to  strengthen  the  intelligence  and  the  soul  as  well  as 
the  body.  In  these  games  and  what  was  connected  with  them  I 
detected  the  mainspring  of  the  moral  strength  which  animated  the 
pupils  and  the  young  people  in  the  institution.  The  games,  as  I 
am  now  fervently  assured,  formed  a  mental  bath  of  extraordinary 
strengthening-power  ;  *  and  although  the  sense  of  the  higher  sym- 
bolic meaning  of  games  had  not  yet  dawned  upon  me,  I  was 
nevertheless  able  to  perceive  in  each  boy  genuinely  at  play  a 
moral  strength  governing  both  mind  and  body  which  won  my 
highest  esteem. 

Closely  akin  to  the  games  in  their  morally  strengthening  aspect 
were  the  walks,  especially  those  of  the  general  walking  parties, 
more  particularly  when  conducted  by  Pestalozzi  himself.  These 
walks  were  by  no  means  always  meant  to  be  opportunities  for 
drawing  close  to  Nature,  but  Nature  herself,  though  unsought, 
always  drew  the  walkers  close  to  her.  Every  contact  with  her 
elevates,  strengthens,  purifies.  It  is  from  this  cause  that  Nature, 
like  noble  great-souled  men,  wins  us  to  her;  and  whenever  school 
or  teaching  duties  gave  me  respite,  my  life  at  this  time  was  always 
passed  amidst  natural  scenes  and  in  communion  with  Nature. 
From  the  tops  of  the  high  mountains  near  by  I  used  to  rejoice  in 
the  clear  and  still  sunset,  in  the  pine-forests,  the  glaciers,  the 
mountain  meadows,  all  bathed  in  rosy  light.  Such  an  evening  walk 


•  That  the  boys'  characters  were  immersed  in  an  element  of  strengthening 
and  developing  games  as  the  body  is  immersed  in  the  water  of  a  strengthening 
bath,  seems  to  be  Froebel's  idea. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  83 


came  indeed  to  be  an  almost  irresistible  necessity  to  me  after  each 
actively-spent  day.  As  I  wandered  on  the  sunlit,  far-stretching 
hills,  or  along  the  still  shore  of  the  lake,  clear  as  crystal,  smooth 
as  a  mirror,  or  in  the  shady  groves,  under  the  tall  forest  trees, 
my  spirit  grev^  full  with  ideas  of  the  truly  god-like  nature  and 
priceless  value  of  a  man's  soul,  and  I  gladdened  myself  with  the 
consideration  of  mankind  as  the  beloved  children  of  God.  There 
is  no  question  but  that  Pestalozzi's  general  addresses,  especially 
those  delivered  in  the  evening,  when  he  used  to  delight  in  evoking 
a  picture  of  noble  manliness  and  true  love  of  mankind  and  de- 
veloping it  in  all  its  details,  very  powerfully  contributed  towards 
arousing  such  an  inner  life  as  that  just  described. 

Yet  I  did  not  lose  myself  in  empty  fancies ;  on  the  contrary,  I 
kept  my  practical  work  constantly  before  my  eyes.  From  thinking 
about  my  dead  parents  my  thoughts  would  wander  back  over 
the  rest  of  my  family,  turning  most  often  to  that  dear  eldest 
brother  of  mine,  who  has  now  not  been  referred  to  for  some  time 
in  these  pages.  He  had  become  the  faithful  watchful  father  of 
several  children.  I  shared  in  his  unaffected  fatherly  cares,  and 
my  soul  was  penetrated  with  the  desire  that  he  might  be  able  to 
give  his  sons  such  an  education  as  I  should  feel  obliged  to  point 
out  to  him  as  being  the  best.  Already,  ever  since  I  was  at  Frank- 
furt, I  had  communicated  to  him  my  thoughts  on  education  and 
methods  of  teaching.  What  now  occurred  to  me  out  of  my  new 
knowledge  as  applicable  to  his  case,  I  extracted,  collected  together, 
and  classified,  so  as  to  be  able  to  impart  it  to  him  for  his  use  at 
the  first  opportunity. 

One  thing  which  greatly  contributed  to  the  better  consideration 
and  elucidation  of  the  Pestalozzian  mode  of  teaching  was  the  pre- 
sence of  a  large  number  of  young  men  sent  from  various  govern- 
ments as  students  to  Yverdon.  With  some  of  these  I  was  on 
terms  of  intimacy,  and  to  the  exchange  of  ideas  which  went  on 
amongst  us  I  owe  at  least  as  much  as  to  my  own  observation. 

On  the  whole  I  passed  a  glorious  time  at  Yverdon,  elevated  in 
tone,  and  critically  decisive  for  my  after  life.  At  its  close,  how- 
ever, I  felt  more  clearly _than  ever  the  deficiency  of  inner  unity 
and  interdependence,  as  well  as  of  outward  comprehensiveness 
and  thoroughness  in  the  teaching  there. 


84  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 


To  obtain  the  means  of  a  satisfactory  judgment  upon  the  best 
method  of  teac'iing  the  classical  tongues,  I  took  Greek  and  Latin 
under  a  young  German,  who  was  staying  there  at  that  time ;  but 
I  was  constructing  a  method  of  my  own  all  the  while,  by  observ- 
ing all  the  points  which  seemed  valuable,  as  they  occurred  in 
actual  teaching.  But  the  want  of  a  satisfactory  presentation  of 
the  classical  tongues  as  part  of  the  general  means  of  education  and 
culture  of  mankind,  especially  when  added  to  the  want  of  a  con- 
sideration of  natural  history  as  a  comprehensive  and  necessary 
means  of  education,  and  above  all  the  uncertain  wavering  of  the 
ground-principles  on  which  the  whole  education  and  teaching 
rested  at  Yverdon,  decided  me  not  only  to  take  my  pupils  back  to 
their  parents'  house,  but  to  abandon  altogether  my  present  educa- 
tional work,  in  order  to  equip  myself,  by  renewed  study  at  some 
German  university,  with  that  due  knowledge  of  natural  science 
which  now  seemed  to  me  quite  indispensable  for  an  educator. 

In  the  year  1810  I  returned  from  Yverdon  by  Bern,  Schaff- 
hausen,  and  Stuttgart  to  Frankfurt. 

I  should  have  prepared  to  go  to  the  university  at  once,  but 
found  myself  obliged  to  remain  at  my  post  till  the  July  of  the 
following  year.  The  piece-meal  condition  of  the  methods  of 
teaching  and  of  education  which  surrounded  me  hung  heavy  on 
my  mind,  so  that  I  was  extremely  glad  when  at  last  I  was  able 
to  shake  myself  free  from  my  position. 

In  the  beginning  of  July  181 1  I  went  to  Gottingen.  1  went 
up  at  once,  although  it  was  in  the  middle  of  the  session,  because 
I  felt  that  I  should  require  several  months  to  see  my  way  towards 
harmonising  my  inward  with  my  outward  life,  and  reconciling  my 
thoughts  with  my  actions.  And  it  was  in  truth  several  months 
before  I  gained  peace  within  myself,  and  before  I  arrived  at  that 
unity  which  was  so  necessary  to  me,  between  my  inward  and  my 
outward  life,  and  at  the  equally  necessary  harmony  between  aim,, 
career,  and  method. 

Mankind  as  a  whole,  as  one  great  unity,  had  now  become  my 
quickening  thought.  I  kept  this  conception  continually  before  my 
mind.  I  sought  after  proofs  of  it  in  my  little  world  within,  and 
in  the  great  woild  without  me;  I  desired  by  many  a  struggle 
to    win    it,    and    then    to    set    it    w^orthily    forth.       And    thus    I 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  Z$ 


was  led  back  to  the  first  appearance  of  man  upon  our  earth,  to 
the  land  which  first  saw  man,  and  to  the  first  manifestation 
of  mankind,  his  speech. 

Linguistic  studies,  the  learning  of  languages,  philology,  etc., 
now  formed  the  object  of  my  attack.  The  study  of  Oriental 
tongues  seemed  to  me  the  central  point,  the  fountain  head, 
whither  my  search  was  leading  me ;  and  at  once  I  began  upon 
them  with  Hebrew  and  Arabic.  I  had  a  dim  idea  of  opening  up 
a  path  through  them  to  other  Asiatic  tongues,  particularly  those 
of  India  *  and  Persia.  I  was  powerfully  stimulated  and  attracted 
by  what  I  had  heard  about  the  study  of  these  languages,  then  in 
its  early  youth — namely,  the  acknowledgment  of  a  relationship 
between  Persian  and  German.  Greek  also  attracted  me  in  quite 
a  special  way  on  account  of  its  inner  fulness,  organisation,  and 
regularity.  My  whole  time  and  energy  were  devoted  to  the  two 
languages  I  have  named. t  But  I  did  not  get  far  with  Hebrew  in 
spite  of  my  genuine  zeal  and  my  strict  way  with  myself,  because 
between  the  manner  of  looking  at  a  language  congenial  to  my 
mind  and  the  manner  in  which  the  elementary  lesson  book  pre- 
sented it  to  me,  lay  a  vast  chasm  which  I  could  find  no  means  to 
bridge  over.  In  the  form  in  which  language  was  offered  tome,  I 
could  find  and  see  no  means  of  making  it  a  living  study;  and  yet, 
nevertheless,  nothing  would  have  drawn  me  from  my  linguistic 
studies  had  I  not  been  assured  by  educated  men  that  these 
studies,  especially  my  work  on  Indian  and  Persian  tongues,  were 
in  reality  quite  beside  the  mark  at  which  I  aimed.  Hebrew 
also  was  abandoned  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  Greek  irresistibly 
enthralled  me,  and  nearly  all  my  time  and  energy  were  finally 
given  to  its  study,  with  the  help  of  the  best  books. 

I  was  now  free,  happy,  in  good  mental  and  bodily  health  and 
vigour,  and  I  gained  peace  within  myself  and  without,  through 
hard  work,  interrupted  only  by  an  indisposition  which  kept  me  to 
my  room  for  a  few  weeks.  After  working  all  day  alone,  I  used  to 
walk  out  late  in  the  evening,  so  that  at  least  I  might  receive  a 
greeting   from  the    friendly    beams  of  the    setting  sun.     To  in- 


*  Sanskrit  is  here  probably  meant, 
t  Hebrew  and  Arabic. 


S6  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 


vigorate  my  spirit  as  well  as  my  bodily  frame  I  would  walk  on 
till  near  midnight  in  the  beautiful  neighbourhood  which  surrounds 
Gottingen.  The  glittering  starry  sky  harmonised  well  with  my 
thoughts,  and  a  new  object  which  appeared  in  the  heavens  at  this 
time,  aroused  my  wonder  in  an  especial  degree.  I  knew  but 
little  of  astronomy,  and  the  expected  arrival  of  a  large  comet* 
was,  therefore,  quite  unknown  to  me ;  so  that  I  found  out  the 
comet  for  myself,  and  that  was  a  source  of  special  attraction. 
This  object  absorbed  my  contemplation  in  those  silent  nights,  and 
the  thought  of  the  all-embracing,  wide-spreading  sphere  of  law 
and  order  above,  developed  and  shaped  itself  in  my  mind  with 
especial  force  during  my  night- wanderings.  I  often  turned  back 
home  that  I  might  note  down  in  their  freshness  the  results  of 
these  musings ;  and  then  after  a  short  sleep  I  rose  again  to 
pursue  my  studies. 

In  this  way  the  last  half  of  the  summer  session  passed  quickly 
away,  and  Michaelmas  arrived. 

The  development  of  my  inner  life  had  meanwhile  insensibly 
drawn  me  little  by  little  quite  away  from  the  study  of  languages^ 
and  led  me  towards  the  deeper-lying  unity  of  natural  objects. 
My  earlier  plan  gradually  reasserted  itself,  to  study  Nature  in  her 
first  forms  and  elements.  But  the  funds  which  still  remained  to 
me  were  now  too  small  to  permit  of  the  longer  residence  at  the 
university  which  that  plan  necessitated.  As  I  had  nothing  at  all 
now  to  depend  upon  save  my  own  unaided  powers,  I  at  first 
thought  to  gain  my  object  by  turning  them  to  some  practical 
account,  such  as  literary  work.  I  had  already  begun  to  prepare 
for  this,  when  an  unexpected  legacy  changed  my  whole  position. 
Up  to  now  1  had  had  one  aunt  still  living,  a  sister  of  my  mother's, 
who  had  spent  all  the  best  years  of  her  life  in  my  native  village, 
enjoying  excellent  health  and  free  from  care.     By  her  sudden 

*  The  comet  of  i8il,  one  of  the  most  brilliant  of  the  present  century,  was 
an  equal  surprise  to  the  most  skilled  astronomers  as  to  Froebel.  Observations 
of  its  path  have  led  to  a  belief  that  it  has  a  period  of  300  years  ;  so  that  it  was 
possibly  seen  by  our  ancestors  in  151 1,  and  may  be  seen  by  our  remote 
descendants  in  21 1 1.  The  appearance  of  this  comet  was  synchronous  with  an 
unusually  fine  vintage  harvest,  and  "  wine  of  the  great  Comet  year  "  was  long 
held  in  great  esteem. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  Sy 

death  I  obtained,  in  a  manner  I  had  little  expected,  the  means 
of  pursuing  my  much-desired  studies.  This  occurrence  made  a 
very  deep  impression  upon  me,  because  this  lady  was  the  sister 
of  that  uncle  of  mine  whose  death  had  enabled  me  to  travel  from 
Gross  Milchow  to  Frankfurt,  and  so  first  set  me  upon  my  career 
as  an  educator.  And  now  again  the  death  of  a  loved  one  made  it 
possible  for  me  to  attain  higher  culture  in  the  service  of  this 
career.  Both  brother  and  sister  had  loved  with  the  closest  affec- 
tion my  own  mother,  dead  so  far  too  soon,  and  this  love  they  had 
extended  to  her  children  after  her.  May  these  two  loving  and 
beloved  ones  who  through  their  death  gave  me  a  higher  life  and  a 
higher  vocation,  live  for  ever  through  my  work  and  my  career. 

My  position  was  now  a  very  pleasant  one,  and  I  felt  soothing  and 
cheering  influences  such  as  had  not  visited  me  before. 

In  the  autumn  holidays,  too,  a  friendly  home  was  ready  to 
receive  me.  Besides  the  country-clergyman  brother,  who  so  often 
was  a  power  for  good  in  my  life,  I  had  another  brother,  also  older 
than  I,  who  had  been  living  more  than  ten  years  as  a  well- 
established  tradesman  and  citizen  in  Osterode,  amongst  the 
Harz  Mountains ;  head  of  a  quiet,  self-contained,  happy  family, 
and  father  of  some  fine  children.  My  previous  life  and  endeavours 
as  an  educator  had  already 'brought  me  into  connection  with  this 
circle ;  for  I  had  not  failed  whenever  I  found  anything  suitable  to 
my  brother's  needs  to  let  him  know  of  it,  as  he  was  the  conscien- 
tious teacher  and  educator  of  his  own  children.  It  was  in  this 
peaceful,  active  family-circle  of  an  intellectual  tradesman's  home 
that  I  passed  all  the  vacation  time  during  which  the  university 
regulations  released  me  from  vigorous  work.  It  could  not  prove 
otherwise  than  that  such  a  visit  should  be  of  the  greatest  service 
to  me  in  my  general  development,  and  I  remember  it  with  thank- 
fulness even  yet  on  that  account. 

I  return  now  to  my  university  life.  Physics,  chemistry, 
mineralogy,  and  natural  history  in  general,  were  my  principal 
studies. 

The  inner  law  and  order  embracing  all  things,  and  in  itself 
conditioned  and  necessitated,  now  presented  itself  to  me  in  such 
clearness  that  I  could  see  nothing  either  in  nature  or  in  life  m 
which  it  was  not  made  manifest,  although  varying  greatly  accordmg 


88  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

to  its  several  manifestations,  in  complexity  and  in  gradation.  Just 
at  this  time  those  great  discoveries  of  the  French  and  English 
philosophers  became  generally  known  through  which  the  great 
manifold  external  world  was  seen  to  form  a  comprehensive  outer 
unity.  And  the  labours  of  the  German  and  Swedish  philosophers 
to  express  these  essentially  conditioned  fundamental  laws  in  terms 
of  weight  and  number,  so  that  they  might  be  studied  and  under- 
stood in  their  most  exact  expression,  and  in  their  mutual  inter- 
change and  connection,  fitted  in  exactly  with  my  own  longings 
and  endeavours.  Natural  science  and  natural  researches  now 
seemed  to  me,  while  themselves  belonging  to  a  distinct  plane  of 
vital  phenomena,  the  foundation  and  cornerstones  wiiich  served  to 
make  clear  and  definite  the  laws  and  the  progress  of  the  develop- 
ment, the  culture,  and  the  education  of  mankind. 

It  was  but  natural  that  such  studies  should  totally  absorb  me, 
occupy  my  whole  energies,  and  keep  me  most  busily  employed. 
I  studied  chemistry  and  physics  with  the  greatest  possible  zeal, 
but  the  teaching  of  the  latter  did  not  satisfy  me  so  thoroughly  as 
that  of  the  former. 

What  in  the  current  half-year's  term  I  was  regarding  rather 
from  a  theoretical  standpoint,  I  intended  in  the  next  half-year  to 
study  practically  as  a  factor  of  actual  life  :  hence  I  passed  to 
organic  chemistry  and  geology.*  Those  laws  which  I  was  able 
to  observe  in  Nature  I  desired  to  trace  also  in  the  life  and  pro- 
ceedings of  man,  wherefore  I  added  to  my  previous  studies 
history,  politics,  and  political  economy.  These  practical  depart- 
ments of  knowledge  brought  vividly  home  to  me  the  great  truth 
that  the  most  valuable  wealth  a  man  can  possess  lies  in  a 
cultivated  mind,  and  in  its  suitable  exercise  upon  matters  growing 
out  of  its  own  natural  conditions.  I  saw  further  that  wealth 
arose  quite  as  much  from  vigour  of  production  as  from  saving  by 
economical  use ;  and  that  those  productions  were  the  most  valuable 
of  all,  which  were  the  outcome  and  representation  of  lofty  ideas 
or  remarkable  thoughts  ;  and  finally,  that  politics  itself  was  in  its 
essence  but  a  means  of  uplifting  man  from  the  necessities  of 
Nature  and  of  life  to  the  freedom  of  the  spirit  and  the  will. 

*  Ceognosie. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  89 

While  I  received  much  benefit  from  the  lectures  on  natural 
history  at  the  university,  I  could  not  fall  in  with  the  views  held 
there  as  to  fixed  forms — crystallography,  mineralogy,  and  natural 
philosophy.  From  what  I  had  heard  of  the  natural  history 
lectures  of  Professor  Weiss  in  Berlin,  I  felt  sure  that  I  could 
acquire  a  correct  view  of  both  these  subjects  from  him.  And 
also  since  my  means  would  not  allow  me  to  stay  even  so  long  as  one 
entire  session  more  at  Gottingen,  whilst  on  the  other  hand  I  might 
hope  at  Berlin  to  earn  enough  by  teaching  to  maintain  a  longer 
university  career  there,  I  came  to  the  conclusion  to  go  to  Berlin 
at  the  beginning  of  the  next  winter  session  to  study  mineralogy, 
geology,  and  crystallography  under  Weiss,  as  well  as  to  do  some 
work  at  physics  and  physical  laws. 

After  a  stay  of  a  few  weeks  with  my  brother  at  Osterode,  I 
went  to  Berlin  in  October  181 2. 

The  lectures  for  which  I  had  so  longed  really  came  up  to  the 
needs  of  my  mind  and  soul,  and  awakened  in  me,  more 
fervent  than  ever,  the  certainty  of  the  demonstrable  inner  con- 
nection of  the  whole  cosmical  development  of  the  universe.  I 
saw  also  the  possibility  of  man's  becoming  conscious  of  this 
absolute  unity  of  the  universe,  as  well  as  of  the  diversity  of  things 
and  appearances  which  is  perpetually  unfolding  itself  within  that 
unity ;  and  then,  when  I  had  made  clear  to  myself,  and  brought 
fully  home  to  my  consciousness,  the  view  that  the  infinitely  varied 
phenomena  in  man's  life,  work,  thought,  feeling,  and  position, 
were  all  summed  up  in  the  unity  of  his  personal  existence,  I  felt 
myself  able  to  turn  my  thoughts  once  more  to  educational  pro- 
blems. 

To  make  sure  of  my  power  to  maintain  myself  at  the  university, 
I  undertook  some  teaching  at  a  private  school  of  good  reputation.* 
My  work  here,  beyond  the  sufficient  support  it  afforded  me  during 
residence,  had  no  positive  effect  upon  the  endeavour  of  my  life, 
for  I  found  neither  high  intelligence,  lofty  aims,  nor  unity  in  the 
course  of  instruction. 


*  The  Plamann  School,  an  institution  of  considerable  merit.  Plamann  was 
a  pupil  of  Pestalo/.zi.  One  of  the  present  writers  studied  crystallography  later 
on  with  a  professor  who  had  been  a  colleague  of  Froebel's  in  this  same  school, 
and  who  himself  was  also  a  pupil  of  Pestalozzi. 


90  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

The  fateful  year  1813  had  now  begun.  All  men  grasped 
weapons,  and  called  on  one  another  to  fly  to  arms  to  defend  the 
Fatherland.  I,  too,  had  a  home,  it  is  true,  a  birthplace,  I  might 
say  a  Motherland,  but  I  could  not  feel  that  I  had  a  Fatherland.* 
My  home  sent  up  no  cry  to  me;  I  was  no  Prussian,t  and  thus  it 
came  about  that  the  universal  call  to  arms  (in  Berlin)  affected  me,, 
in  my  retired  life,  but  little.  It  was  quite  another  sentiment 
which  drew  me  to  join  the  ranks  of  German  soldiers ;  my 
enthusiasm  was  possibly  small,  but  my  determination  was  firmly 
fixed  as  the  rocks  themselves. 

This  sentiment  was  the  consciousness  of  a  pure  German 
brotherhood,  which  I  had  always  honoured  in  my  soul  as  a  lofty 
and  sublime  ideal ;  one  which  I  earnestly  desired  might  make 
itself  felt  in  all  its  fulness  and  freedom  all  over  Germany. 

Besides  the  fidelity  with  which  I  clung  to  my  avocation  as  an 
educator  also  influenced  my  action  in  this  matter.  Even  if  I  could 
not  say  truly  that  I  had  a  Fatherland,  I  must  yet  acknowledge 
that  every  boy,  that  every  child,  who  might  perhaps  later  on 
come  to  be  educated  by  me  would  have  a  Fatherland,  that  this 
Fatherland  was  now  requiring  defence,  and  that  the  child  was  not 
in  a  position  to  share  in  that  defence.  It  did  not  seem  possible 
to  imagine  that  a  young  man  capable  of  bearing  arms  could 
become  a  teacher  of  children  and  boys  whose  Fatherland  he  had 
refused  to  defend  with  his  blood  and  even  with  his  life  if  need 
were ;  that  he  who  now  did  not  feel  ashamed  to  shrink  from 
blows  could  exist  without  blushing  in  after  years,  or  could  incite 
his  pupils  to  do  something  noble,  something  calling  for  sacrifice 


*  Froebel  'S  here  symbolically  expressing  the  longing  which  pervaded  all 
noble  spirits  at  that  time  for  a  free  and  united  Germany,  for  a  great  Father- 
land, The  tender  mother's  love  was  symbolised  by  the  ties  of  home  (Mother- 
land), but  the  father's  strength  and  power  (Fatherland)  was  only  then  to  be 
found  in  German  national  life  in  the  one  or  two  large  states  like  Prussia,  etc. 
It  needed  long  years  and  the  termination  of  this  period  of  preparation  by  two 
great  wars,  those  of  1866  and  of  1870,  to  bind  the  whole  people  together,  and 
make  Germany  no  longer  a  "geographical  expression  "  but  a  mighty  nation. 

t  In  the  beginning  of  this  great  contest  it  was  Prussia  who  declared  war 
against  the  common  enemy  and  oppressor,  Napoleon.  The  other  German 
powers,  for  the  most  jiait,  held  aloof. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  91 


and  for  unselfishness,  without  exposing  himself  to  their  derision 
and  contempt.  Such  was  the  second  main  reason  which  in- 
fluenced me. 

Thirdly,  this  summons  to  war  seemed  to  me  an  expression  of 
the  general  need  of  the  men,  the  land,  and  the  times  amidst  which 
I  lived,  and  I  felt  that  it  would  be  altogether  unworthy  and  un- 
manly to  stand  by  without  fighting  for  this  general  need,  and 
without  taking  my  share  in  warding  off  the  general  danger. 

Before  these  convictions  all  considerations  gave  way,  even  that 
of  my  bodily  constitution,  which  was  far  too  weakly  for  such  a  life. 

As  comrades  I  selected  the  Lutzowers  :  and  at  Eastertide  1813 
I  arrived  at  Dresden  on  my  road  to  join  the  infantry  division  of 
Ltitzow's  corps  at  Leipzig.*  Through  the  retired  nature  of  my 
self-concentrated  life  it  came  about  naturally  that  I,  although  a 
regularly  matriculated  student,  had  held  aloof  from  the  other 
students,  and  had  gained  no  settled  acquaintance  amongst  them  ; 
thus,  out  of  all  the  vigorous  comrades  whom  I  met  at  Dresden, 
many  of  whom  were  like  myself,  Berlin  students,  I  did  not  find 
one  man  I  knew.  I  made  but  few  new  friends  in  the  army,  and 
these  few  I  was  fated  to  encounter  on  the  first  day  of  my  entrance 
into  my  new  work  of  soldiering.  Our  sergeant  at  the  first 
morning  halt  after  our  march  out  from  Dresden,  introduced  me 
to  a  comrade  from  Erfurt  as  a  Thiiringer,  and  therefore  a  fellow- 
countryman.     This  was  Langethal ;  and  casually  as  our  acquaint- 

*  The  Baron  von  Liitzow  formed  his  famous  volunteer  corps  in  March  181 3. 
His  instructions  were  to  harass  the  enemy  by  constant  skirmishes,  and  to 
encourage  the  smaller  German  states  to  rise  against  the  tyrant  r/apoleon.  The 
corps  became  celebrated  for  swift,  dashing  exploits  in  small  bodies.  Froebel 
seems  to  have  been  with  the  main  body,  and  to  have  seen  little  of  the  more 
active  doings  of  his  regiment.  Their  favourite  title  was  "  Liitzow 's  Wilde 
Verwegene  Schaar  "  (LUtzow's  Wild  Bold  Troop).  Amongst  the  volunteers  were 
many  distinguished  men  ;  for  instance,  the  poet  Korner,  whose  volume  of  war 
poetry,  much  of  it  written  during  the  campaign,  is  still  a  great  favourite.  One 
of  the  poems,  "  LUtzow's  Wilde  Jagd  "  ("  Lutzow's  Wild  Chase"). is  of  world-wide 
fame  through  the  musical  setting  of  the  great  composer  Weber.  In  June  1813 
came  the  armistice  of  which  Froebel  presently  speaks.  During  the  fresh  out- 
break of  war  after  the  armistice  the  corps  was  cut  to  pieces.  It  was  reorganised, 
and  we  find  it  on  the  Rhine  in  December  of  the  same  year.  It  was  finally 
dissolved  after  Napoleon's  abdication  and  exile  to  Elba,  20th  April,  and  the 
peace  of  Paris  30th  May,  18 14. 


92  Autobiography  oj  Froehel, 

ance  thus  began,  it  proved  to  be  a  lasting  friendship.  Our  first 
day's  march  was  to  MeiSsen,  where  we  halted.  We  had  enjoyed 
lovely  spring  v/eather  during  our  march,  and  our  repose  was 
gladdened  by  a  still  lovelier  evening.  I  found  all  the  university 
students  of  the  corps,  driven  by  a  like  impulse,  collected  together  in 
an  open  place  by  the  shores  of  Elbe  and  near  a  public  restaurant ; 
and  some  old  Meissen  wine  soon  served  us  as  a  bond  of  union. 
We  sat  about  twenty  strong  in  a  jolly  group  at  a  long  table,  and 
began  by  welcoming  and  pledging  one  another  to  friendship.  It 
was  here  that  Langethal  introduced  me  to  a  university  friend  of 
his  at  Berlin,  the  young  Middendorff,  a  divinity  student  from  the 
Mark.*  Keeping  together  in  a  merry  little  society  till  the  middle 
of  the  lovely  spring  night,  we  united  again  next  morning  in  a  visit 
to  the  splendid  cathedral  of  Meissen.  Thus  from  the  very  first 
did  we  three  join  fast  in  a  common  struggle  towards  and  on 
behalf  of  the  higher  life,  and  even  if  we  have  not  always  remained 
in  the  like  close  outward  bonds  of  union,  we  have  from  that  time 
to  this,  now  near  upon  fifteen  years,  never  lost  our  comradeship 
in  the  inner  life  and  our  common  endeavour  after  self-education. 
Both  Langethal  and  Middendorff  had  a  third  friend,  named  Bauer, 
amongst  our  comrades  of  the  camp.  With  him  also,  as  I  think, 
I  made  acquaintance  as  early  as  at  Meissen,  but  it  was  more 
particularly  at  Havelberg,  later  on,  that  Bauer  and  I  struck  up 
a  friendship  together,  which  has  ever  since  endured.  Even  when 
we  have  not  been  together  in  outward  life,  we  have  always 
remained    one    in    our   endeavours   after   the   highest  and   best. 

*  Die  Grafschaft  Mark.  The  Mark  of  Brandenburg  (so  called  as  being  the 
mark  or  frontier  against  Slavic  heathendom  in  that  direction  during  the  dark 
ages)  is  the  kernel  of  the  Prussian  monarchy.  It  was  in  the  character  of 
Markgraf  of  Brandenburg,  that  the  Hohenzollern  princes  were  electors  of  the 
German  Empire  ;  their  title  as  king  was  due  not  to  Brandenburg,  but  to  the 
dukedom  of  Prussia  in  the  far  east  (once  the  territory  of  the  Teutonic  military 
order),  which  was  elevatetl  to  the  rank  of  an  independent  kingdom  in  1701. 
The  title  of  the  present  Emperor  of  Germany  still  begins  "William,  Emperor 
of  Germany,  King  of  Prussia,  Markgraf  of  Brandenburg,"  etc.,  etc.,  showing 
the  importance  attached  to  this  most  ancient  dignity.  The  Mark  of  Branden- 
burg contains  Berlin.  Middendorff  seems  to  have  been  then  living  in  the  Mark. 
Froebel  cannot  have  forgotten  that  by  origin  Wilhelm.  Middendorff  was  a 
Westphalian 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  93 


Bauer  closed  the  narrow  circle  of  my  friends  amongst  our  com- 
panions in  arms.* 

I  remained  true  to  my  previous  way  of  life  and  thought  in  the 
manner  in  which  I  viewed  my  new  soldier  life.  My  main  care 
was  always  to  educate  myself  for  the  actual  calling  which  at  the 
moment  I  was  following ;  thus,  amongst  the  first  things  I  took  in 
hand  was  an  attempt  at  finding  the  inner  necessity  and  connection 
of  the  various  parts  of  the  drill  and  the  military  services,  in 
which,  without  any  previous  acquaintance  with  military  affairs* 
I  managed,  in  consequence  of  my  mathematical  and  physical 
knowledge,  to  succeed  very  fairly  and  without  any  great  difficulty. 
I  was  able  to  protect  myself,  therefore,  against  many  small 
reprimands,  which  fell  tolerably  frequently  on  those  who  had 
thought  this  or  that  instruction  might  be  lightly  passed  over  as 
too  trivial  to  be  attended  to.  It  came  about  in  this  way, 
when  we  were  continually  drilling,  after  the  cessation  of  the 
armistice,  that  the  military  exercises  we  performed  gave  me 
genuine  pleasure  on  account  of  their  regularity,  their  clearness, 
and  the  precision  of  their  execution.  In  probing  into  their  nature 
I  could  see  freedom  beneath  their  recognised  necessity. 

During  the  long  sojourn  of  our  corps  in  Havelberg  previously 
alluded  to,  I  strengthened  my  inner  life,  so  far  as  the  military 
service  permitted,  by  spending  all  the  time  I  could  in  the  open 


*  Of  Bauer  little  further  is  to  be  known.  He  was  afterwards  professor  in 
the  Frederick- William  Gymnasium  (Grammar  School)  in  Berlin,  but  has  no 
fui-ther  connection  with  Froebel's  career.  On  the  other  hand,  a  few  words  on 
Langethal  and  Middendorff  seem  necessary  here.  Heinrich  Langethal  was  born 
in  Erfurt,  September  3rd,  1792.  He  joined  Froebel  at  Keilhau  in  1817.  He 
was  a  faithful  colleague  of  Froebel's  there,  and  at  Willisau  and  Burgdorf,  but 
finally  left  him  at  the  last  place,  and  undertook  the  management  of  a  girls' 
school  at  Bern.  He  afterwards  became  a  rninister  in  Schleusingen,  returning 
eventually  to  Keilhau.  One  of  the  present  writers  saw  him  there  in  1S71. 
He  was  then  quite  blind,  but  happy  and  vigorous,  though  in  his  eiglilicth 
year.  He  died  in  1883.  Wilhelm  Middendorff,  the  closest  and  truest  friend 
Froebel  ever  had,  without  whom,  indeed,  he  could  not  exist,  because  each 
formed  the  complement  of  the  other's  nature,  was  born  at  Brechten,  near 
Dortmund,  in  Westphalia,  September  20th,  1 793.  and  died  at  Keilhau  Novem- 
ber 27th,  1853,  a  little  over  a  year  after  his  great  master.  (Froebel  had  passed 
away  at  Marienthal  July  21st,  1852.) 


94  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 


air,  in  communion  with  Nature,  to  a  perception  of  whose  loveli- 
ness a  perusal  of  G.  Forster's  "  Travels  in  Rhineland "  had 
newly  unlocked  my  senses.* 

We  friends  took  all  opportunities  of  meeting  one  another.  By- 
and-by  we  set  to  work  to  make  this  easier  by  three  of  us  applying 
to  be  quartered  together. 

In  the  rough,  frank  life  of  war,  men  presented  themselves  to 
me  under  various  aspects,  and  so  became  a  special  object  of  my 
thoughts  as  regards  their  conduct,  and  their  active  work,  and 
most  of  all  as  to  their  higher  vocation.  Man  and  the  education 
of  man  was  the  subject  which  occupied  us  long  and  often  in  our 
walks,  and  in  our  open-air  life  generally.  It  was  particularly 
these  discussions  which  drew  me  forcibly  towards  Middendorff, 
the  youngest  of  us. 

I  liked  well  our  life  of  the  bivouac,  because  it  made  so  much 
of  history  clear  to  me  ;  and  taught  me,  too,  through  our  oft- 
continued  and  severely  laborious  marches  and  military  manoeuvres, 
the  interchanging  mutual  relations  of  body  and  spirit.  It  showed 
me  how  little  the  individual  man  belongs  to  himself  in  war  time  ; 
he  is  but  an  atom  in  a  great  whole,  and  as  such  alone  must  he  be 
considered. 

Through  the  chance  of  our  corps  being  far  removed  from  the 
actual  scat  of  war,  we  lived  our  soldier  life,  at  least  I  did,  in  a 
sort  of  dream,  notwithstanding  the  severe  exertions  caused  by  our 
military  manoeuvres,  and  we  heard  of  the  war  only  in  the  same 
sleepy  way.     Now  and  then,  at  Leipzig,  at  Dalenburg,  at  Bremen, 

*  •'  Ansichten  vom  Nieder  Rhein,  Flandern,  Holland,  England,  Frankreich 
inApril,Mai,  und  Juni  1790"  ("Sketches on  the  Lower  Rhine,  Flanders, "etc.). 
Johann  Geirg  Forster  (1754 — 1794);  the  author  of  this  book,  accompanied 
his  father,  the  naturalist,  in  Captain  Cook's  journey  round  the  world.  He 
then  settled  in  Warrington  (England)  in  1 767  ;  taught  languages,  and  trans- 
lated many  foreign  books  into  English,  etc.  He  left  England  in  1 777,  and 
served  many  princes  on  the  Continent  as  librarian,  historiographer,  etc., 
amongst  others  the  Czarina  Catherine.  He  was  librarian  to  the  Elector  of 
Mainz  when  the  French  Revolution  broke  out,  and  was  sent  as  a  deputation 
to  Paris  by  the  republicans  of  that  town,  who  desired  union  with  France.  He 
died  at  Paris  in  1794.  His  prose  is  considered  classical  in  Germany,  having 
the  lightness  of  French  and  the  power  of  English  gained  through  his  large 
knowledge  of  those  literatures. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  95 

at  Berlin,  we  seemed  to  wake  up ;  but  soon  sank  back  into  feeble 
dreaminess  again.  It  was  particularly  depressing  and  weakening 
to  me  never  to  be  able  to  grasp  our  position  as  part  of  the  great 
whole  of  the  campaign,  and  never  to  find  any  satisfactory  explana- 
tion of  the  reason  or  the  aim  of  our  manoeuvres.  That  was  my 
'case  at  least ;  others  may  have  seen  better  and  clearer  than  I. 

I  gained  one  clear  benefit  from  the  campaign  ;  in  the  course  of 
the  actual  soldier  life  I  became  enthusiastic  upon  the  best  interests 
of  the  German  land  and  the  German  people ;  my  efforts  tended  to 
become  national  in  their  scope.  And  in  general,  so  far  as  my 
fatigues  allowed,  I  kept  the  sense  of  my  future  position  always 
before  me ;  even  in  the  little  skirmishes  that  we  had  to  take  part 
in  I  was  able  to  gather  some  experiences  which  I  saw  would  be 
useful  to  me  in  my  future  work. 

Our  corps  marched  through  the  Mark,*  and  in  the  latter  part  of 
August  through  Priegnitz,  Mecklenburg,  the  districts  of  Bremen 
and  Hamburg,  and  Holstein,  and  in  the  last  days  of  1813  we 
reached  the  Rhine.  The  peace  (May  30th,  1814)  prevented  us 
from  seeing  Paris,  and  we  were  stationed  in  the  Netherlands  till 
the  breaking  up  of  the  corps.  At  last,  in  July  181 4,  every  one 
who  did  not  care  to  serve  longer  had  permission  to  return  to  his 
home  and  to  his  former  calling.  Upon  my  entrance  into  a  corps 
of  Prussian  soldiers  I  had  received,  through  the  influence  of  some 
good  friends,  the  promise  of  a  post  under  the  Prussian  Govern- 
ment— namely,  that  of  assistant  at  the  mineralogical  museum  of 
Berlin,  under  Weiss.  Thither  then,  as  the  next  place  of  my 
destined  work,  I  turned  my  steps.  I  desired  also  to  see  the 
Rhine  and  the  Main,  and  my  birthplace  as  well ;  so  I  went  by 
Dusseldorf  back  to  Lunen,  and  thence  by  Mainz,  Frankfurt,  and 
Rudolstadt  to  Berlin. 

Thus  I  had  lived  through  the  whole  campaign  according  to  my 
strength,  greater  or  less,  in  a  steady  inner  struggle  towards  unity 
and  harmony  of  life,  but  what  of  outward  significance  and  worth 
recollection  had  I  received  from  the  soldier's  life?  I  left  the 
army  and  the  warlike  career  with  a  total  feeling  of  discontent. 
My   inner  yearning  for  unity  and   harmony,  for  inward    peace, 


*  The  Mark  of  Brandenburg. 


g6  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

was  so  powerful  that  it  shaped  itself  unconsciously  into 
symbolical  form  and  figure.  In  a  ceaseless,  inexplicable,  anxious 
state  of  longing  and  unrest,  I  had  passed  through  many  pretty 
places  and  many  gardens  on  my  homeward  way,  without  any  of 

them   pleasing   me.     In  this  mood  I  reached   F ,  and  entered 

a  fairly  large  and  handsomely-stocked  flower  garden.  I  gazed  at 
all  the  vigorous  plants  and  fresh  gay  flowers  it  offered  me,  but  no 
flower  took  my  fancy.  As  I  passed  all  the  many  varied  beauties 
of  the  garden  in  review  before  my  mind,  it  fell  upon  me  suddenly 
that  I  missed  the  lily.  I  asked  the  owner  of  the  garden  if  he  had 
no  lilies  there,  and  he  quietly  replied.  No  !  When  I  expressed 
my  surprise,  I  was  answered  as  quietly  as  before  that  hitherto 
no  one  had  missed  the  lily.  It  was  thus  that  I  came  to  know  what 
I  missed  and  longed  for.  How  could  my  inner  nature  have 
expressed  itself  more  beautifully  in  words  ?  "  Thou  art  seeking 
silent  peacefulness  of  heart,  harmony  of  life,  clear  purity  of  soul^ 
by  the  symbol  of  this  silent,  pure,  simple  lily."  That  garden,  in 
its  beautiful  variety,  but  without  a  lily,  appeared  to  me  as  a  gay 
life  passed  through  and  squandered  without  unity  and  harmony. 
Another  day  I  saw  many  lovely  lilies  blooming  in  the  garden 
of  a  house  in  the  country.  Great  was  my  joy  ;  but,  alas  !  they 
were  separated  from  me  by  a  hedge.  Later  on  I  solved  this 
symbol  also  ;  and  until  its  solution  image  and  longing  remained 
stored  in  my  memory.  One  thing  I  ought  to  notice — namely,  that 
in  the  place  where  I  was  vainly  seeking  for  lilies  in  the  garden 
a  little  boy  of  three  years  old  came  up  trustfully  and  stood  by  my 
side. 

I  hastened  to  the  scene  of  my  new  duties.  How  variously  the 
different  outward  circumstances  of  my  life  henceforth  affected  me 
as  to  the  life  within,  now  that  this  had  won  for  itself  once  more  an 
assured  individual  form,  and  how  my  life  again  resumed  its 
true  and  highest  aspect,  I  must  pass  over  here,  since  to  develop 
these  considerations  with  all  their  connections  would  take  me  too 
long. 

In  the  first  days  of  August  1814  I  arrived  at  Berlin,  and  at 
once  received  my  promised  appointment.  My  duties  busied  me 
the  greater  part  of  the  day  amongst  minerals,  dumb  witnesses 
to  the  silent   thousand-fold  creative  energy  of  Nature,  and  I   had 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  97 


to  see  to  their  arrangement  in  a  locked,  perfectly  quiet  room. 
"While  engaged  on  this  work  I  continually  proved  to  be  true  what 
had  long  been  a  presentiment  wnth  me— namely,  that  even  in 
these  so-called  lifeless  stones  and  fragments  of  rock,  torn  from  their 
original  bed,  there  lay  germs  of  transforming,  developing  energy 
and  activity.  Amidst  the  diversity  of  forms  around  m-e,  I  recognised 
under  all  kinds  of  various  modifications  one  law  of  development. 

All  the  points  that  in  Gottingen  I  had  thought  I  traced  amidst 
outward  circumstances,  confirmatory  of  the  order  of  the  soul's 
development,  came  before  me  here  also,  in  a  hundred  and 
again  a  hundred  phenomena.  What  I  had  recognised  in  things 
great  or  noble,  or  in  the  life  of  man,  or  in  the  ways  of  God, 
as  serving  towards  the  development  of  the  human  race,  I  found 
I  could  here  recognise  also  in  the  smallest  of  these  fixed  forms 
which  Nature  alone  had  shaped.  I  saw  clearly,  as  never  yet  I 
had  seen  before,  that  the  godlike  is  not  alone  in  the  great ;  for  the 
godlike  is  also  in  the  very  small,  it  appears  in  all  its  fulness  and 
power  in  the  most  minute  dimensions.  And  thereafter  my  rocks 
and  crystals  served  me  as  a  mirror  wherein  I  might  descry  man- 
kind, and  man's  development  and  history.  These  things  began  to 
stir  pow'erfully  within  me  ;  and  what  I  now  vaguely  perceived  I 
was  soon  to  view  more  definitely,  and  to  be  able  to  study  with 
thoroughness. 

Geology  and  crystallography  not  only  opened  up  for  me  a  higher 
circle  of  knowledge  and  insight,  but  also  showed  me  a  higher  goal 
for  my  inquiry,  my  speculation,  and  my  endeavour.  Nature  and 
man  now  seemed  to  me  mutually  to  explain  each  other,  through 
all  their  numberless  various  stages  of  development.  Man,  as  I 
saw,  receives  from  a  knowledge  of  natural  objects,  even  because 
of  their  immense  deep-seated  diversity,  a  foundation  for,  and  a 
guidance  towards,  a  knowledge  of  himself  and  of  life,  and  a  pre- 
paration for  the  manifestation  of  that  knowledge.  What  I  thus 
clearly  perceived  in  the  simpler  natural  objects  I  soon  traced  in  the 
province  of  living  Nature,  in  plants  and  growing  things,  so  far  as 
thesecame  undermyobservation,and  inthe  animal  kingdom  as  well. 

Soon  I  became  wholly  penetrated  and  absorbed  by  the  thought 
that  it  must  be  beyond  everything  else  vital  to  man's  culture  and 
development,  to  the  sure  attainment  of  his  destiny  and  fulfilment 

7 


98  Autobiography  of  Froehel. 

of  his  vocation,  to  distinguish  these  tendencies  accurately  and 
sharply  not  only  in  their  separate  ascending  grades,  but  also 
throughout  the  whole  career  of  life.  Moreover,  I  made  a  resolu- 
tion that  for  some  time  I  would  devote  myself  to  the  study  of  the 
higher  methods  of  teaching,  so  as  to  fit  myself  as  a  teacher  in  one 
of  the  higher  centres  of  education,  as,  for  example,  one  of  the 
universities,  if  that  might  be.  But  it  was  not  long  before  I  found 
a  double  deficiency,  which  quickly  discouraged  me  in  this  design. 
For,  firstly,  I  wanted  a  fund  of  specially  learned  and  classical 
culture  ;  and  next,  I  was  generally  deficient  in  the  preparatory 
studies  necessary  for  the  higher  branches  of  natural  science.  The 
amount  of  interest  in  their  work  shown  by  university  students 
was,  at  the  same  time,  not  at  all  serious  enough  to  attract  me  to 
such  a  career. 

I  soon  perceived  a  double  truth  :  first,  that  a  man  must  be 
early  led  towards  the  knowledge  of  nature  and  insight  into 
her  methods — that  is,  he  must  be  from  the  first  specially 
trained  with  this  object  in  view ;  and  next,  I  saw  that  a  man,  thus 
led  through  all  the  due  stages  of  a  life-development  should  in 
order  to  be  quite  sure  to  accomplish  in  all  steadiness,  clearness, 
and  certainty  his  aim,  his  vocation,  and  his  destiny,  be  guarded 
from  the  very  beginning  against  a  crowd  of  misconceptions  and 
blunders.  Therefore  I  determined  to  devote  myself  rather  to  the 
general  subject  of  the  education  of  man. 

Though  the  splendid  lectures  I  heard  on  mineralogy,  crystallo- 
graphy, geology,  etc.,  led  me  to  see  the  uniformity  of  Nature  in 
her  working,  yet  a  higher  and  greater  unity  lay  in  my  own  mind. 
To  give  an  example,  it  was  always  most  unsatisfactory  to  me  to 
see  form  de^^eloped  from  a  number  of  various  ground-forms.  The 
object  which  now  lay  before  my  efforts  and  my  thought  was  to 
bring  out  the  higher  unity  underlying  external  form  in  such  a 
self-evident  shape  that  it  should  serve  as  a  type  or  principle 
whence  all  other  forms  might  be  derived.  But  as  I  held  the  laws 
of  form  to  be  fixed,  not  only  for  crystals,  but  also  just  as  firmly 
for  language,  it  was  more  particularly  a  deep  philosophical  view 
of  language  which  eventually  absorbed  my  thoughts.  Again, 
ideas  about  language  which  I  had  conceived  long  ago  in  Switzer- 
land crowded  before  my  mind.     It  seemed  to  me  that  the  vowels 


Autobiography  of  Froehel.  99 


«,  o,  u,  e,  i,  a,  au,  ei,  resembled,  so  to  speak,  force,  spirit,  the 
(inner)  subject,  whilst  the  consonants  symbolised  matter,  body, 
the  (outer)  object.  But  just  as  in  life  and  in  nature  all  opposites 
are  only  relatively  opposed,  and  within  every  circle,  every  sphere, 
both  opposites  are  found  to  be  contained,  so  also  in  language  one 
perceives  within  the  sphere  of  speech-tones  the  two  opposites  of 
subject  and  object.  For  example,  the  sound  /  depicts  the  absolute 
subject,  the  centre,  and  the  sound  a  the  absolute  material  object  ; 
the  sound  e  serves  for  life  as  such,  for  existence  in  general ;  and 
o  for  individual  life,  for  an  existence  narrowed   to   itself  alone. 

Language,  not  alone  as  the  material  for  the  expression  of 
thought,  but  also  as  a  type  or  epitome  of  all  forms  and  manifesta- 
tions of  life,  appeared  to  me  to  underlie  the  universal  laws  of 
expression.  In  order  to  learn  these  laws  thoroughly,  as  exempli- 
fied in  the  teaching  of  the  classical  languages,  I  now  returned 
again  to  the  study  of  these  latter,  under  the  guidance  of  a  clever 
teacher ;  and  I  began  to  strike  out  the  special  path  which  seemed 
to  me  absolutely  necessary  to  be  followed  in  their  acquisition. 

From  this  time  onwards  I  gave  all  my  thoughts  to  methods  of 
education,  whereto  I  was  also  further  incited  by  some  keen 
critical  lectures  on  the  history  of  ancient  philosophy.  These 
again  afforded  me  a  clear  conviction  of  the  soundness  of  my  views 
of  Nature  and  of  the  laws  of  human  development. 

Through  my  work  at  the  dynamical,  chemical,  and  mathematical 
aspects  of  Nature  I  came  once  more  upon  the  consideration  of  the 
laws  of  number,  particularly  as  manifested  through  figures  ;  and 
this  led  me  to  a  perfectly  fresh  general  view  of  the  subject — 
namely,  that  number  should  be  regarded  as  horizontally  related.* 
That  way  of  considering  the  subject  leads  one  to  very  simple 
fundamental  conceptions  of  arithmetic,  which,  when  applied  in 
practice,  prove  to  be  as  accurate  as  they  are  clear.    The  connection 

*  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  Froebel  has  not  developed  this  point  more  fully 
He  speaks  of  "  die  Betrachtung  des  Zahlensinnes  in  horizontaler  oder  Seiten- 
Richtung,"  and  one  would  be  glad  of  further  delays  of  this  view  of  number. 
We  think  that  the  full  expression  of  the  thought  here  shadowed  out,  is  to  be 
found  in  the  Kindergarten  occupations  of  mat-weaving,  stick-laying,  etc.,  in 
their  arithmetical  aspect.  Certainly  in  these  occupations,  instead  of  nuiober 
being  built  up  as  with  bricks,  etc.,  it  is  laid  alonq;  horizontally. 


100  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

of  these  (dynamical  and  arithmetical)  phenomena  was  demonstrably 
apparent  to  me ;  since  arithmetic  may  be  considered,  firstly,  as 
the  outward  expression  of  the  manifestation  of  force,  secondly  (in 
its  relationship  to  man),  as  an  example  of  the  laws  of  human 
thought. 

On  all  sides,  through  nature  as  well  as  through  history, 
through  life  as  well  as  through  science  (and  as  regards  the 
latter  through  pure  science  as  well  as  through  the  applied 
branches),  I  was  thus  encountered  and  appealed  to  by  the  unity, 
the  simplicity,  and  the  unalterably  necessary  course,  of  human 
development  and  human  education.  I  became  impelled  by  an 
irresistible  impulse  towards  the  setting  forth  of  that  unity  and 
simplicity,  with  all  the  force,  both  of  my  pen  and  of  my  life, 
in  the  shape  of  an  educational  system.  I  felt  that  education  as 
well  as  science  would  gain  by  what  I  may  call  a  more  human, 
related,  affiliated,  connected  treatment  and  consideration  of  the 
subjects  of  education. 

I  was  led  to  this  conviction  on  another  ground,  as  follows  : — 
Although  my  friends  Langethal,  Middendorfif,  and  Bauer  served 
with  me  all  through  the  war  in  the  same  corps,  and  even  in  the 
same  battalion,  we  were  a  great  deal  apart  towards  the  close  of 
the  campaign,  especially  at  the  time  we  were  quartered  in  the 
Netherlands,  so  that  I,  at  all  events,  at  the  disbanding  of  the  corps, 
knew  not  whither  the  others  had  gone.  It  was,  therefore,  an 
unexpected  pleasure  when,  after  a  while,  I  found  them  all  at  Berlin 
again.  My  friends  pursued  their  theological  studies  with  earnest- 
ness, and  I  my  natural  science ;  therefore,  at  first  we  came  little 
into  contact  with  one  another. 

So  passed  several  months,  when  suddenly  life  threw  us  closer 
together  agam.  This  came  about  through  the  call  to  arms  in  1815. 
We  all  enlisted  again  together  as  volunteers.  On  account  of  our 
previous  service,  and  by  royal  favour,  we  were  at  once  promoted 
to  officer's  rank,  and  each  one  was  appointed  to  a  regiment 
However,  there  was  such  a  throng  of  volunteers  that  it  was  not 
necessary  for  any  State  officials  to  be  called  upon  to  leave  their 
posts,  or  for  students  to  interrupt  their  studies,  and  we  therefore 
received  counter-orders  commanding  us  to  stay  at  home. 
MiddendorfT,  who  felt  sure  of  his  speedy  departure  for  the  army, 


Autobiography  of  Frochel.  lOl 

preferred  not  to  take  lodgings  for  the  short  time  of  his  stay  in 
Berlin,  and  as  there  was  room  enough  in  mine  for  us  both,  he 
came  and  stayed  with  me.  Yet  we  still  seemed  to  draw 
very  little  closer  together  at  first,  because  of  the  diversity  of  our 
pursuits ;  but  soon  a  bond  of  union  wove  itself  again,  which  was 
all  the  stronger  on  that  very  account.  Langethal  and  Middendorff 
had  endeavoured  to  secure  a  sufficiency  for  their  support  at  the 
university  by  taking  private  tutorships  in  families,  making  such 
arrangements  as  that  their  university  studies  should  not  be 
interfered  with.  In  the  beginning  of  their  work  all  seemed  simple 
and  easy,  but  they  soon  came  upon  difficulties  both  as  regards  the 
teaching  and  the  training  of  the  children  entrusted  to  them.  As 
our  former  conversations  had  so  often  turned  upon  these  very 
subjects  they  now  came  to  me  to  consult  me,  especially  about 
mathematical  teaching  and  arithmetic,  and  we  set  apart  two  hours 
a  week,  in  which  I  gave  them  instruction  on  these  matters.  From 
this  moment  our  mutual  interchange  of  thought  again  became 
animated  and  continuous. 


I02  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 


Here  the  autobiography  breaks  off  abruptly.  Herr  Wichard 
Lange  had  some  trouble  in  deciphering  it  from  Froebel's  almost 
unreadable  rough  draft,  and  here  and  there  he  had  even  to  guess 
at  a  word  or  so,  Froebel  had  intended  to  present  this  letter  to 
the  Duke  of  Meiningen  at  the  close  of  1827,  when  the  negotiations 
began  to  be  held  about  a  proposed  National  Educational  Institu- 
tion at  Helba,  to  be  maintained  by  the  duke,  after  the  similar 
proposal  made  to  the  Prince  of  Rudolstadt  for  Quittelsdorf  earlier 
in  the  year  had  broken  down.  It  is  not  known  whether  the  pre- 
sent draft  was  ever  finished,  properly  corrected,  and  polished  into 
permanent  form,  nor  whether  it  was  ever  delivered  to  the  duke. 
It  is  highly  probable  that  we  have  here  all  that  Froebel  accom- 
plished towards  it.  It  may  be  added  that  soon  after  Froebel's 
repeated  plans  and  drafts  for  the  Helba  Institution  had  culminated 
in  the  final  extensive  well-known  plan  of  the  spring  of  1829,  the 
whole  scheme  fell  through,  from  the  jealousy  of  the  prince's 
advisers,  who  feared  Froebel's  influence  too  much  to  allow  him 
ever  to  get  a  footing  amongst  them. 

Another  fragment  of  autobiography,  going  on  to  a  further  period 
of  his  life,  occurs  in  a  long  letter  to  the  philosopher  Krause,* 
dated  Keilhau,  24th  March,  1828,  in  reply  to  an  article  written  by 
Krause  five  years  before  (1823)  in  Oken's  journal,  the  well-known 
/s/s,t  in  which  article  Krause  had  found  fault  with  Froebel's  two 
explanatory  essays  on  Keilhau,  written  in  1822,  separately  pub- 
lished, and  appearing  also  in  the  Isis,  because  Keilhau  was  there 
put  forward  as  "an  educational  institution  for  all  Germany'' 
(Allgcmcine  Deutsche  Erziehungs-Anstalt),  whereas  Krause  d 
it  should  rather  style  itself  "  a   German   institution  for  uni 


% 

le  mobUi'  ■ 


*  Car!  Christian  Fnedrich  Kiause,  an  eminent  philosopher,  and  th 
learned  writer  on  freemasoniy  in  his  day,  was  born  in  1 781.  at  Eisenberg,  in 
Saxony.  From  1 801  to  1804  he  was  a  professor  at  Jena,  afterwards  teaching  in 
Dresden,  Gottingen,  and  Munich,  at  which  latter  place  he  died  in  1832. 

f  Lorenz  Oken,  the  famous  naturalist  and  man  of  science,  was  born  at 
Rohlsbach,  in  Swabia,  1st  August,  1779.  (His  real  name  was  Ockenfuss.)  In 
1812  Oken  was  appointed  ordinary  professor  of  natural  history  at  Jena,  and  in 
1816  he  founded  his  celebrated  journal,  the  Isis,  devoted  chiefly  to  science^ 
but  also  admitting  comments  on  political  matters.     The  latter  having  given. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  103 


culture  "  (Deutsche  Anstalt  fur  Allgemeine  menschliche  Bildung). 
The  rapid  growth  of  Keilhau  gave  Froebel  at  the  time  no  leisure  for 
controversy.  In  1827  began  the  cruel  persecutions  which  eventually 
compelled  him  to  leave  Keilhau.  Now  whenever  Froebel  was 
under  the  pressure  of  outward  difficulty,  he  always  sought  for 
help  from  within,  and  from  his  inward  contemplation  derived 
new  courage  and  new  strength  to  face  his  troubles.  Out  of  such 
musings  in  the  present  time  of  adversity  the  long-awaited  reply 
to  Krause  at  length  emerged.  The  disputative  part,  interesting 
in  itself,  does  not  here  concern  us.  We  pass  at  once  to  the  brief 
sketch  of  his  life  contained  in  later  parts  of  the  letter,  omitting 
what  is  not  autobiographical.  The  earlier  of  these  passages 
relate  more  succinctly  the  events  of  the  same  period  already  more 
fully  described  in  the  letter  to  the  Duke  of  Meiningen  ;  but  we 
think  it  better  to  print  the  passages  in  full,  in  spite  of  their  being 
to  a  great  extent  a  repetition  of  what  has  gone  before.  Certain 
differences,  however,  will  be  found  not  unworthy  of  notice. 

The  Krause  letter  succeeded  the  other  and  more  important 
letter  (to  the  Duke  of  Meiningen)  by  some  few  months.  Its 
immediate  outcome  was  a  warm  friendship  between  Krause  and 
Froebel ;  the  latter,  with  Middendorff  as  his  companion,  journey- 
ing to  Gottingen  to  make  the  philosopher's  personal  acquaintance, 
in  the  autumn  of  1828.  Long  discussions  on  education  took  place 
at  this  interesting  meeting,  as  we  know  from  Leonhardi,  Krause's 
pupil.  Krause  made  Froebel  acquainted  with  the  works  of 
Comenius,  amongst  other  things,  and  introduced  him  to  the  whole 
d  society  of  Gottingen,  where  he  made  a  great,  if  a 
what  peculiar,  impression. 


#ed   soc 
- 


offfence  to  the  Court  of  Weimar,  Oken  was  called  upon  either  to  resign 
his  professorship  or  suppress  the /«>.  He  chose  the  former  alternative,  sent 
in  his  resignation,  transferred  the  publication  of  the  Isis  to  Rudolstadt,  and 
remained  at  Jena  as  a  private  teacher  of  science.  In  1821  he  broached  in  the 
Isis  the  idea  of  an  annual  gathering  of  German  savants,  and  it  was  carried  out 
successfully  at  Leipzig  m  the  following  year.  To  Oken,  therefore,  may  be 
indirectly  ascribed  the  genesis  of  the  annual  scientific  gatherings  common  on 
the  Continent,  as  well  as  of  the  British  Association  for  the  Advancement  ot 
Science,  which  at  the  outset  was  avowedly  organised  after  his  model.  He  died 
in  185 1. 


I04  Autobiography  of  Free  be  I. 


PART  OF  FROEBEL's  LETTER  TO  KRAUSE,  DATED  KEILHAU, 
24TH  MARCH,  1828. 

.  .  .  You  have  enjoyed,  without  doubt,  unusual  good  fortune 
in  having  pursued  the  strict  path  of  culture.  You  have  sailed  by 
Charybdis  without  being  swallowed  up  by  Scylla.*  But  my 
lot  has  been  just  the  reverse. 

As  I  have  already  told  you  in  the  beginning  of  this  letter,  I  was 
very  early  impressed  with  the  contradictions  of  life  in  word  and 
deed — in  fact,  almost  as  soon  as  I  was  conscious  of  anything, 
living  as  a  lonely  child  in  a  very  narrowed  and  narrowing  circle, 
A.  spirit  of  contemplation,  of  simplicity,  and  of  childlike  faith  ;  a 
stern,  sometimes  cruel,  self-repression  ;  a  carefully-fostered  inward 
yearning  after  knowledge  by  causes  and  effects,  together  with  an 
open-air  life  amidst  Nature,  especially  amidst  the  world  of  plants, 
gradually  freed  my  soul  from  the  oppression  of  these  contradic- 
tions. Thus,  in  my  tenth  and  eleventh  years,  I  came  to  dream  of 
life  as  a  connected  whole  without  contradictions.  Everywhere  to 
find  life,  harmony,  freedom  from  contradictions,  and  so  to  recog- 
nise with  a  keener  and  clearer  perception  the  life-unity  after 
which!  dimly  groped,  was  the  silent'longing  of  my  heart,  the  main- 
spring of  my  existence.  But  the  way  thither  through  the  usual 
school  course,  all  made  up  of  separate  patches,  considering  things 
merely  in  their  outward  aspect,  and  connected  by  mere  arbitrary 
juxtaposition,  was  too  lifeless  to  attract  me  ;  I  could  not  remem- 
ber things  merely  put  together  without  inner  connection,  and  so 
it  came  about  that  after  two  of  my  elder  brothers  had  devoted 
themselves  to  study,  and  because  my  third  brother  showed  great 
capacity    for    study    also,    my    own    education    was    narrowed ; 


*  Those  acquainted  with  the  classical  mythology  will  forgive  us  for  noting, 
that  Charybdis  was,  and  is,  a  whirlpool  on  the  Sicilian  shore  of  the  Straits  of 
Messina,  face  to  face  with  some  caverns  under  the  rock  of  Scylla,  on  the  Italian 
shore,  into  wliich  the  waves  rush  at  lii^li  tide  with  a  roar  not  unlike  a  dog's 
bark. 


Autobiography  of  Froehel.  105 


but  so  much  the  more  closely  did  a  loving,  guiding  providence 
bind  my  heart  in  communion  with  Nature.* 

In  silent,  trustful  association  with  Nature  and  my  mathematics, 
I  lived  for  several  years  after  my  confirmation.  In  the  latter 
part  of  the  time  my  duties  led  me  towards  the  study  of  natural 
laws,  and  thus  towards  the  perception  of  the  unity  so  often  longed 
for  in  soul  and  spirit,  and  now  at  last  gradually  becoming  clear 
from  amidst  the  outwardly  clashing  phenomena  of  Nature. t 

At  last  I  could  no  longer  resist  the  craving  for  knowledge  which 
I  felt  within  me.  I  thrust  on  one  side  all  the  ordinary  school- 
learning  which  I  utterly  failed  to  appropriate  in  its  customary 
disconnected  state  (it  was  meant  only  to  be  learned  by  rote,  and 
this  I  never  could  recognise  as  the  exclusive  condition  of  a  really 
comprehensive  culture  of  the  human  mind),  and  I  went  up  in  the 
middle  of  my  eighteenth  year  to  the  University  of  Jena.  As  I  had 
been  for  two  years  past  living  completely  with  Nature  and  my 
mathematics,  and  dependent  upon  myself  alone  for  any  culture  I 
might  have  arrived  at,  I  came  to  the  university  much  like  a  simple 
plant  of  nature  myself.  I  was  at  this  time  peculiarly  moved  by  a 
little  knowledge  I  had  picked  up  about  the  solar  system,  including 
particularly  a  general  conception  of  Kepler's  laws,  whereby  the 
laws  of  the  spheres  appealed  to  me  on  the  one  hand  as  an 
all-embracing,  world-encircling  whole,  and  on  the  other  as  an 
unlimited  individualisation  mto  separate  natural  objects.  My 
own  culture  had  been  hitherto  left  to  myself,  and  so  also  now 
I  had  to  select  my  own  studies  and  to  choose  my  courses  of 
lectures  for  myself.     It  was  to  be  expected  that  the  lectures  of 

•  The  peculiar  dreamy  boy,  who  by  his  nature  was  set  against  much  of  his 
work,  and  therefore  seemed  but  an  idle  fellow  to  his  schoolmaster,  was  thought 
to  be  less  gifted  than  his  brothers,  and  on  that  account  fitted  not  so  much  for 
study  as  for  simple  practical  life.  In  Oberweissbach  he  was  set  down  as 
"  moonstruck."  All  this  is  more  fully  set  forth  in  the  Meiningen  letter,  and 
the  footnotes  to  it. 

t  This  was  the  time  when  he  was  apprenticed  to  the  forester  in  Neuhaus, 
in  the  Thiiringer  Wald,  and  necessarily  studied  mathematics,  nature,  and  the 
culture  of  forest  trees.  Eyewitnesses  have  described  him  as  extremely  peculiar 
in  all  his  ways,  even  to  his  dress,  which  was  often  fantastic  He  was  fond  of 
mighty  boots  and  great  waving  feathers  in  his  green  hunter 's-hat,  etc. 


loC  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

the  professors  would  produce  a  singular  effect  upon  me,  and  so 
they  did. 

I  chose  as  my  courses  natural  history,  physics,  and  mathematics, 
but  I  was  little  satisfied.  I  seldom  gained  what  I  expected. 
Everywhere  I  sought  for  a  sound  method  deriving  itself  from  the 
fundamental  principle  lying  at  the  root  of  the  subject  in  hand,  and 
afterwards  summing  up  all  details  into  that  unity  again  ;  every- 
where I  sought  for  recognition  of  the  quickening  interconnection 
of  parts,  and  for  the  exposition  of  the  inner  all-pervading  reign  of 
law.  Only  a  few  lectures  made  some  poor  approach  to  such 
methods,  but  I  found  nothing  of  the  sort  in  those  which  were  most 
important  to  me,  physics  and  mathematics.  Especially  repugnant 
to  me  was  the  piece-meal  patchwork  offered  to  us  in  geometry, 
always  separating  and  dividing,  never  uniting  and  consolidating. 

I  was,  however,  perfectly  fascinated  with  the  mathematical 
rules  of  "  combination,  permutation,  and  variation,"  but  unhappily 
I  could  not  give  much  time  to  their  study,  which  I  have  regretted 
ever  since.  Otherwise,  what  I  learned  from  the  lectures  was  too 
slight  for  what  I  wanted,  being,  unluckily,  altogether  foreign  to 
my  nature,  and  more  often  a  mere  getting  of  rules  by  heart  rather 
than  an  unfolding  of  principles.  The  theoretical  and  philosophical 
courses  on  various  subjects  did  not  attract  me  either,  something 
about  them  always  kept  me  at  a  distance ;  and  from  what  I 
heard  of  them  amongst  my  fellow-students,  I  could  gather  that 
here,  too,  all  was  presented  in  an  arbitrary  fashion,  unnaturally 
divided,  cut  up,  so  to  speak,  into  lifeless  morsels ;  so  that  it  was 
useless  for  my  inner  life  to  seek  for  satisfaction  in  those  regions  of 
study.  But  as  I  said  above,  there  were  some  of  the  lectures  which 
fostered  my  interest  in  the  inner  connection  of  all  vital  phenomena, 
and  even  helped  me  to  trace  it  with  some  certainty  in  some  few 
restricted  circles. 

But  my  financial  position  did  not  permit  me  to  remain  long  at 
the  university ;  and  as  my  studies  were  those  which  fitted  the 
student  for  practical  professional  life,  though  they  were  regarded 
from  a  higher  point  of  view  by  myself  in  the  privacy  of  my 
own  thoughts,  I  had  to  return  to  ordinary  every-day  work,  and 
use  them  as  a  means  to  earn  my  living.  Yet,  though  I  lived  the 
outward  business  life  to  all  appearance,  it  remained  ever  foreign 


Autobiography  oj  Froehel.  107 


to  my  nature ;  I  carried  my  own  world  within  me,  and  it  was  that 
for  which  I  cared  and  which  I  cherished.  My  observation  of  Ufe 
(and  especially  that  of  my  own  life,  which  I  pursued  with  the 
object  of  self-culture),  joined  with  the  love  of  Nature  and  with 
mathematics  to  work  creatively  upon  me ;  and  they  united  to  fill 
my  little  mental  world  with  many  varied  life-forms,  and  taught 
me  at  the  same  time  to  regard  my  own  existence  as  one  member 
of  the  great  universal  life.  My  plan  of  culture  was  very  simple  : 
it  was  to  seek  out  the  innermost  unity  connecting  the  most 
diverse  and  widely-separated  phenomena,  whether  subjective  or 
objective,  and  whether  theoretical  or  practical,  to  learn  to  see  the 
spiritual  side  of  their  activity,  to  apprehend  their  mutual  relations 
as  facts  and  forms  of  Nature,  or  to  express  them  mathematically  ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  to  contemplate  the  natural  and  mathe- 
matical laws  as  founded  in  the  innermost  depths  of  my  own  life  as 
well  as  in  the  highest  unity  of  the  great  whole,  that  is  indeed  to 
regard  them  in  their  unconditioned,  uncaused  necessity,  as  "  abso- 
lute things-in-themselves."  Thus  did  I  continue  without  ceasing 
to  systematise,  symbolise,  idealise,  realise  and  recognise  identities 
and  analogies  amongst  all  facts  and  phenomena,  all  problems, 
expressions,  and  formulas  which  deeply  interested  me ;  and  in  this 
way  life,  with  all  its  varied  phenomena  and  activities,  became  to 
me  more  and  more  free  from  contradictions,  more  harmonious, 
simple,  and  clear,  and  more  recognisable  as  a  part  of  the  life 
imiversal. 

After  I  had  lived  for  some  years  the  isolated  life  I  have 
described,  though  I  was  engaged  the  whole  time  in  ordinary 
professional  pursuits,  all  at  once  there  broke  upon  my  soul,  in 
harmony  with  the  seasons  of  nature,  a  springtime  such  as  I  had 
not  before  experienced  ;  and  an  unexpected  life  and  life-aim 
budded  and  blossoTtcd  in  my  breast.  All  my  inner  life  and  life- 
aims  had  become  rarrowed  to  the  circle  of  self-culture  and  self- 
education.  The  outer  life,  my  profession,  I  carried  on  as  a  mere 
means  of  subsistence,  quite  apart  from  my  real  inner  self,  and  my 
sphere  of  operation  was  limited.  I  was  driven  perforce  from  pillar 
to  post  till  at  last  I  had  arrived  where  the  Main  unites  herself  with 
the  Rhine.-''     Here  there  budded  and  opened  to  my  soul  one  lovely 

*  i.e.,  Fraukfuit. 


I08  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

bright  spring  morning,  when  I  was  surrounded  by  Nature  at  her 
loveliest  and  freshest,  this  thought,  as  it  were  by  inspiration  : — 
That  there  must  exist  somewhere  some  beautifully  simple  and 
certain  way  of  freeing  human  life  from  contradiction,  or,  as  I  then 
spake  out  my  thought  in  words,  some  means  of  restoring  to  man, 
himself,  at  peace  internally  ;  and  that  to  seek  out  this  way  should 
be  the  vocation  of  my  life.  And  yet  my  life,  to  all  appearance, 
my  studies  and  my  desires,  belonged  to  my  purely  external 
vocation,*  and  to  its  external  citizenlike  relations ;  and  by  no 
means  to  mankind  at  large,  either  regarded  in  itself  or  in  its  educa- 
tional needs.  Therefore  this  idea  of  mine  was  in  such  violent 
contrast  with  my  actual  life  that  it  utterly  surprised  me.  In 
fact,  and  perhaps  greatly  because  of  this  contrast,  the  idea 
would  undoubtedly  have  been  quite  forgotten,  had  not  other 
circumstances  occurred  to  revive  it.  On  myself  and  on  my  life  at 
the  time  it  seemed  to  have  not  the  slightest  effect,  and  it  soon 
passed  from  my  memory.  But  later  on  in  this  same  journey ,t  as 
I  climbed  down  from  the  Wartburg,  and  turned  round  to  look  at 
the  castle,  there  rushed  upon  me  once  more  this  thought  of 
a  higher  educational  vocation  as  my  proper  life-work ;  and  again, 
being  so  far  removed  from  my  actual  external  life,  it  only  flashed 
upon  me  with  a  momentary  effulgence  an  instant,  and  then  sank. 
This,  unconsciously  to  me,  and  therefore  quite  disregarded  by  me, 
was  the  real  position  of  my  inner  life  when  I  arrived  at  the  goal  of 
my  journey,  Frankfurt,  from  whence  my  life  was  so  soon  to  develop 
so  largely.  My  energies  at  the  moment  were  devoted  towards 
attaining  some  definite  professional  position  for  myselft  But  in 
proportion  as  I  began  to  examine  my  profession  more  closely  in 
its  practical  aspect,  so  did  it  begin  to  prove  insufficient  of  itself 
to  satisfy  me  as  the  occupation  of  my  life.  Then  there  came  to 
me  the  definite  purpose  of  living  and  working  at  my  profession 
rather  to  use  it  as  a  means  to  win  some  high  benefit  for 
mankind.  § 

*  Architecture,  etc.,  at  this  time.  \  From  Mecklenburg  to  Frankfurt. 

I  i.e.,  as  an  architect. 

§  His  plan  evidently  was  to  use  architecture,  probably  Gothic  architecture,  as 
a  means  of  culture  and  elevation  for  mankind,  and  not  merely  to  practise  it  to 
gain  money. 


Autobiography  of  Frocbcl.  109 


The  restlessness  of  youth,  nay,  that  chance,  rather,  which  has 
always  lovingly  guided  me,  threw  me  unexpectedly  into  relations 
with  a  man  whose  knowledge  of  mankind,  and  whose  penetrating 
glance  into  my  inner  being  turned  me  at  our  very  first  interview 
from  the  profession  of  an  architect  to  that  of  a  teacher  and  an 
educator,  two  spheres  of  work  which  had  never  previously 
occurred  to  me,  still  less  had  appeared  to  me  as  the  future 
objects  of  my  life.*  But  the  very  first  time  I  found  myself  before 
thirty  or  forty  boys  from  nine  to  eleven  years  old,  for  that 
was  the  class  allotted  to  me  to  teach,  I  felt  thoroughly  at  home. 
In  fact,  I  perceived  that  I  had  at  last  found  my  long-missed  life 
element ;  and  as  I  wrote  to  my  brother  at  the  time,  I  was  as  well 
pleased  as  the  fish  in  the  water,  I  was  inexpressibly  happy.  Yet 
here  from  the  very  first  moment  (and  what  a  number  of  sacrifices 
had  to  be  made,  what  a  wealth  of  activity  was  poured  out !)  I  had 
to  give  information,  advice,  and  decisions  on  matters  which 
hitherto  I  had  not  thought  it  necessary  seriously  to  consider,  and 
so  also  here,  in  my  new  position,  I  soon  came  to  feel  myself 
isolated,  to  stand  alone. 

I  sought  counsel  where  I  had  so  often  found  it.  I  looked 
within  myself  and  to  Nature  for  help.  Here  my  plan  of  culture, 
hitherto  followed  only  for  my  own  needs,  came  opportunely  to  my 
assistance.  When  I  was  consulted  by  others,  I  looked  to  Nature 
for  the  answer,  and  let  Nature,  life,  spirit,  and  law  speak  for 
themselves  through  me;  then  the  answer  was  not  merely  satis- 
factory. No  !  its  simple,  unhesitating  confidence  and  youthful 
freshness  gladdened  and  quickened  the  inquirer. 

This  was  all  well  enough  when  universal  human  interests  were 
concerned,  but  how  about  matters  of  instruction  ?  I  could,  in 
fact,  fairly  confess  that  in  many  respects  I  had  no  title  to  call 
myself  a  cultured  man,  for  hitherto  all  my  culture  had  been 
fragmentary  or  imaginative. 

Once  again  I  found  myself  in  conflict  with  my  environment ; 
for  I  could  not  possibly  torture  my  scholars  with  what  I  myself 
had  refused  to  be  tortured  with — namely,  the  learning  by  heart  of 
disconnected  rules.      I  was  therefore  compelled  to  strike  out  fresh 

•  It  was  in  1S05  that  Froebel  was  appointed  by  Gruner  teacher  in  the  Normal 
School  at  Frankfurt. 


A 


1 10  Auiobiograpky  of  Froebel. 

paths  for  myself,  which  indeed  my  post  rendered  a  delightful 
task ;  because  I  not  only  had  full  liberty  accorded  me  in  this 
matter,  but  was  even  urged  onwards  in  that  direction  by  my 
duty,  since  the  institution  was  a  model  school  for  the  higher 
development  of  teaching.  My  past  self-culture,  self-teaching,  and 
self-development,  and  my  study  of  Nature  and  of  life  now  stood 
me  in  good  stead. 

But  this  letter  is  not  intended  to  contain  the  whole  history  of 
the  development  of  my  mind  ;  and  I  will  therefore  pass  quickly 
forward,  just  mentioning  that  from  this  time  for  six  years  on- 
wards, during  which  I  thrice  completely  changed  the  conditions 
of  my  life,*  I  held  most  earnestly  by  this  same  temper  of  mind  and 
this  same  endeavour ;  and  although  I  still  always  lived  in  isolation 
as  to  my  personal  inner  life,  yet  I  was  at  many  points  in  full 
contact  with  the  brisk  mental  effort  and  activity  of  that  stirring 
time  (1805  to  18 10),  as  regards  teaching,  philosophy,  history, 
politics,  and  natural  science.t 

But  the  nobler,  the  more  varied,  the  more  animating  was  the 
life  surrounding  me,  and  the  more  I  found  all  without  me,  as  also 
all  within  me,  striving  and  tending  towards  harmony  and  unity, 
by  so  much  the  less  could  I  longer  be  restrained  from  seeking 
out  this  unity,  even  should  it  be  at  the  sacrifice  of  all  that  was 
dear  to  me,  if  need  were  for  that.  I  was  impelled  to  seek  to 
develop  this  unity  all  bright  and  living  within  my  own  soul,  and 
to  contemplate  it  in  definite,  clear,  and  independent  form,  so 
that  finally  I  might  be  able  to  set  it  forth  in  my  actual  life  with 
sureness  and  certainty. 

*  I.  Teacher  in  the  Model  School.  2.  Tutor  to  the  sons  of  Herr  von 
Holzhausen  near  Frankfurt.     3.  A  resident  at  Yverdon  with  Pestalozzi. 

t  Froebel  was  driven  to  Yverdon  by  the  perusal  ol  some  of  Pestalozzi's 
works  which  Gruner  had  lent  him.  lie  stayed  with  Pestalozzi  for  a  fort- 
night, and  returned  with  the  resolve  to  study  further  with  the  great  Swiss 
reformer  at  some  future  time.  In  1807,  he  became  tutor  to  Herr  von 
Ilolzhausen's  somewhat  spoilt  boys,  demanded  to  have  the  entire  control 
of  them,  and  for  this  object  their  isolation  from  their  family.  The  grateful 
parents,  with  whom  Froebel  was  very  warmly  intimate,  always  kept  the 
rooms  in  which  he  dwelt  with  his  pupils  exactly  as  they  were  at  that  time, 
in  remembrance  of  his  remarkable  success  with  these  boys.  Madame  von 
Holzhausen  had  extraordinary  influence  ^vith  Froebel,  and  he   continued   in 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  m 


After  nine  years'  interval  I  visited  the  university  a  second  time; 
first  (spring  of  1810)  at  Gottingen,  and  then  a  year  and  a  half  later 
(autumn  of  181 1)  at  Berlin.* 

I  now  began  to  pursue  the  study  of  languages.  The  linguistic 
treasures  which  recent  discoveries  had  brought  us  from  Asia 
excited  my  deepest  interest  wherever  I  came  into  contact  with  them. 

But  in  general  the  means  of  acquiring  languages  were  too  life- 
less, too  wanting  in  connection  to  be  of  any  use  to  me ;  and  the 
effort  to  work  them  out  afresh  in  my  own  way,  soon  led  me  to  a 
renewed  study  of  Nature.  Nature  held  me  henceforth  so  fast  that 
for  years  I  was  chained  uninterruptedly  to  her  study,  though  truly 
languages  went  on  as  a  side-study  during  the  time.  Yet  it  was 
not  as  separate  entities  that  I  considered  the  phenomena  I  was 
working  at ;  rather  was  it  as  parts  of  the  great  whole  of  natural 
life,  and  this  also  I  regarded  as  reposing  in  one  supreme  unity 
together  with  all  mankind ;  Nature  and  man,  the  two  opposite 
mutually  casting  light  upon  each  other  and  mirroring  each  other. 

After  the  German  war  of  the  spring  of  18 13  had  interrupted 
my  studies  at  Berlin,  and  I  had  made  acquaintance  with  a  soldier's 
life,  its  need,  and  its  habits  in  Liltzow's  corps,  I  returned  in  18 14 
to  my  studies  and  to  a  scientific  public  post  in  Berlin.  The  care, 
the  arrangement,  and  in  part  the  investigation  and  explanation 
of  crystals  were  the  duties  of  my  office.  Thus  I  reached  at  last 
the  central  point  of  my  life  and  life-aim,  where  productiveness  and 
law,  life,  nature,  and  mathematics  united  all  of  them  in  the  fixed 
crystalline  form,  where  a  world  of  symbols  offered  itself  to  the 

constant  correspondence  with  her.  In  1808  Froebel  and  his  pupils  went  to 
Yverdon,  and  remained  till  1810.  But  the  philosophic  groundwork  of 
Pestalozzi's  system  failed  to  satisfy  him.  Pestalozzi's  work  started  from  the 
external  needs  of  the  poorest  people,  while  Froebel  desired  to  found  the 
columns  supporting  human  culture  upon  theoretically  reasoned  grounds  and 
upon  the  natural  sciences.  A  remarkable  difference  existed  between  the 
characters  of  the  two  great  men.  Pestalozzi  was  diffident,  acknowledged  freely 
his  mistakes,  and  sometimes  blamed  himselt  for  them  bitterly ;  Froebel  never 
thought  himself  in  the  wrong,  if  anything  went  amiss  always  found  some 
external  cause  for  the  failure,  and  in  self-confidence  sometimes  reached  an 
extravagant  pitch. 

*  Either  Froebel  or  his  editor  has  made  a  blunder  here.  Froebel  went  to 
Gottingen  in  July  181 1  (see  p.  84),  and  to  Berlin  in  October  1812  (see  p.  89), 


112  Autobiography  oj  Froebel. 

inner  eye  of  the  mind  ;  for  I  was  appointed  assistant  to  Weiss  at 
the  mineralogical  museum  of  the  Berlin  University.* 

For  a  long  time  it  was  my  endeavour  and  my  dearest  wish 
to  devote  myself  entirely  to  an  academical  career,  which  then 
appeared  to  me  as  my  true  vocation  and  the  only  solution  of  the 
riddle  of  my  life ;  but  the  opportunities  I  had  of  observing  the 
natural  history  students  of  that  time,  their  very  slight  knowledge 
of  their  subject,  their  deficiency  of  perceptive  power,  their  still 
greater  want  of  the  true  scientific  spirit,  warned  me  back  from 
this  plan.  On  the  other  hand,  the  need  of  man  for  a  life  worthy 
of  his  manhood  and  of  his  species  pressed  upon  me  with  all  the 
more  force,  and,  therefore,  teaching  and  education  again  asserted 
themselves  vigorously  as  the  chief  subjects  occupying  my  thoughts. 
Consequently  f  was  only  able  to  keep  my  mind  contented  with 
the  duties  of  my  post  for  two  years ;  and,  meanwhile,  the  stones 
in  my  hand  and  under  my  eyes  turned  to  living,  speaking  forms. 
The  crystal-world,  in  symbolic  fashion,  bare  unimpeachable 
witness  to  me,  through  its  brilliant  unvarying  shapes,  of  life 
and  of  the  laws  of  human  life,  and  spake  to  me  with  silent  yet 
true  and  readable  speech  of  the  real  life  of  the  world  of  mankind. 

Leaving  everything  else,  sacrificing  everything  else,  t  I  was 
driven  back  upon  the  education  of  man,  driven  also  to  my  refuge 
in  Nature,  wherein  as  in  a  mirror  I  saw  reflected  the  laws  of  the 
development  of  being,  which  laws  I  was  now  to  turn  to  account 
for  the  education  of  my  race.     My  task  was  to  educate  man  in 

*  At  this  lime,  however,  the  symbols  of  the  inorganic  world  did  not  appeal 
to  Froebel  with  the  same  force  as  those  of  the  organic  world.  In  a  letter  to 
Madame  von  iiolzhausen,  31st  March,  1831,  he  writes:  "It  is  the  highest 
privilege  of  natural  forms  or  of  natural  life  that  they  contain  agreement  and 
perfection  within  themselves  as  a  whole  class,  while  differing  and  fdled  with 
imperfection  in  particular  individuals ;  for  look  at  the  loveliest  blooming  fruit- 
tree,  the  sweetest  rose,  the  purest  lily,  and  your  eye  can  always  detect  de- 
ficiencies, imperfections,  differences  in  each  one,  regarded  as  a  single  phenomenon, 
a  separate  bloom  ;  and,  further,  the  same  want  of  perfection  appears  also  in 
every  single  petal :  on  the  other  hand,  wherever  mathematical  symmetry  and 
precise  agreement  are  found,  there  is  dea/h." 

f  Not  a  figure  of  speech  altogether ;  for  Froebel  did  really  decline  a  pro- 
fessorship of  mineralogy  which  was  offered  him  at  this  time,  in  order  to  set  foith 
on  his  cdncaiiunal  career. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  113 

his  true  humanity,  to  educate  man  in  his  absolute  being,  accord- 
ing to  the  universal  laws  of  all  development.*  Therefore,  leaving 
Berlin,  and  laying  down  my  office,  I  began  late  in  the  autumn  of 
181 6  that  educational  work  which,  though  it  still  takes  its  impulse 
from  me  and  exists  under  my  leadership,  yet  in  its  deepest  nature 
is  self-sufficient  and  self-conditioned. 

Although  I  was  not  perhaps  then  capable  of  putting  my  con- 
victions into  words,  I  at  once  realised  this  work  in  my  own  mind 
as  comprehensive  and  world-embracing  in  its  nature,  as  an  ever- 
lasting work  to  be  evermore  performed  for  the  benefit  of  the 
whole  human  race ;  yet  I  nevertheless  linked  it,  and  for  this  very 
reason,  to  my  own  personal  life ;  that  is,  since  I  had  no  children 
of  my  own,  I  took  to  me  my  dear  nephews  whom  I  most  deeply 
loved,  in  order  through  them  and  with  them  to  work  out  blessings 
for  my  home  and  my  native  land,  for  Schwarzburg  and  Thuringia, 
and    so    for   the   whole    wide    Fatherland    itself.t      The  eternal 

*  That  is,  putting  development  into  a  formula — 
Thesis-p  Antithesis 
Synthesis. 
The   true  synthesis  is   that  springing  from  the  thesis  and  its  opposite,  the 
antithesis.     Another  type  of  the  formula  is  this — 

Proposition -pCounter-proposition 

Compromise. 

Understanding  by  "  Compromise  "  (  Vermittlung)  that  which  results  from  the 

union  of  the  two  opposites,  that  which  forms  part  of  both  and  which  links 

them  together.     The  formula  expressed  in  terms  of  human  life,  for  example,  is— 

Father-^-Mother 

Child. 

Philosophic  readers  acquainted  with   Hegel  and  his   school  will  recognise  a 

familiar  friend  in  these  formula. 

t  Froebel  travelled  from  Berlin  to  Osterode,  and  took  with  him  both  his 
brother  Christian's  sons,  Ferdinand  and  Wilhelm,  to  Griesheim ;  there  to 
educate  them  together  with  the  three  orphans  of  his  brother  Christoph,  who 
had  died  in  181 3,  of  hospital  fever,  whilst  nursing  the  French  soldiers.  Of 
the  sons  of  Christian,  Ferdinand  studied  philosophy,  and  at  his  death  was 
director  of  the  Orphanage  founded  by  Froebel  in  Burgdorf;  Wilhelm,  who 
showed  great  talent,  and  was  his  uncle's  favourite  nephew,  died  early  through 
the  consequences  of  an  accident,  just  after  receiving  his  "  leaving  certificate "' 
from  the  gymnasium  of  Rudolstadt. 

As  regards  the  sons  of  Christoph,  they  were  the  immediate  cause  of 
Froebel's  going  to  Griesheim,  for  their  widowed  mother  sent  for  her  brother-in 


1 14  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

principles  of  development,  as  I  recognised  them  within  me,  would 
have  it  thus  and  not  otherwise. 

Timidly,  very  timidly,  did  I  venture  to  call  my  work  by  the 
title  of  "  German,"  or  "  Universal  German "  education  ;  and, 
indeed,  I  struck  that  out  from  one  of  my  manuscripts,  although  it 
was  precisely  the  name  required  to  start  with  as  it  expressed  the 
broad  nature  of  my  proposed  institution.  An  appeal  to  the  general 
public  to  become  thorough  men  seemed  to  me  too  grandiose,  too 
liable  to  be  misunderstood,  as,  indeed,  in  the  event,  it  only  too  truly 
proved  ;  but  to  become  thorough  Germans,  so  I  thought,  would 
seem  to  them  something  in  earnest,  something  w^orth  the  striving 
for,  especially  after  such  hard  and  special  trials  as  had  recently 
been  endured  by  the  German  nation. 

With  your  penetrating  judgment  you  quarrelled  with  that  term 
"  German  education  ; "  but,  after  all,  even  the  appeal  to  be  made 
thorough  Germans  proved  to  be  too  grandiose  and  liable  to  be 
misunderstood.     For   every   one  said    "  German  ?  Well,    I   am 


law  to  consult  him  as  to  their  education.  Julius,  the  eldest,  was  well  prepared 
in  Keilhau  for  the  active  life  he  was  afterwards  destined  to  live.  He  went  from 
school  to  Munich,  first,  to  study  the  natural  sciences ;  and  while  yet  at  the 
university  several  publications  from  his  pen  were  issued  by  Cotta.  Later  on 
he  took  an  ofticial  post  in  Weimar,  and  continued  to  write  from  time  to  time. 
Meanwhile  he  completed  his  studies  in  Jena  and  Berlin  under  Karl  von  Ritter, 
the  great  authority  on  cosmography,  and  under  the  distinguished  naturalist, 
Alexander  von  Humboldt.  In  1833  he  became  Professor  at  the  Polytechnic 
School  in  Zurich ;  but  his  literary  avocations  eventually  drew  him  to  Dresden. 
Here  he  was  chosen  Deputy  to  the  National  Assembly  at  Frankfurt  in  1848. 
After  the  dissolution  of  that  Assembly,  Julius  P'roebel,  in  common  with  many 
others  of  the  more  advanced  party,  was  condemned  to  death.  He  escaped  to 
Switzerland  before  arrest,  and  fled  to  New  York.  In  after  life  he  was  permitted 
to  return  to  Germany,  and  eventually  he  was  appointed  Consul  at  Smyrna. 

Karl  Froebel,  the  next  son,  went  to  Jena  also.  He  then  took  a  tutorship  in 
England,  and  it  was  at  this  time  (1831)  that  his  pamphlet,  "  A  Preparation 
for  Euclid,"  appeared.  He  returned  to  the  Continent  to  become  Director  of 
the  Public  Schools  at  Zurich.  He  left  Zurich  in  1848  for  Hamburg,  where  he 
founded  a  Lyceum  for  Young  Ladies.  Some  years  later,  when  this  had  ceased 
to  exist,  he  went  again  to  England,  and  eventually  founded  an  excellent  school  at 
Edinburgh  with  the  aid  of  his  wife  ;  which,  indeed,  his  wife  and  he  still  conduct. 
His  daughters  show  great  talent  for  music,  and  one  of  them  was  a  pupil  of 
the  distinguished  pianist,  Madame  Schumann  (widow  of  the  great  composer). 


Autobiography  of  Froehel.  1 1 5 


German,  and  have  been  so  from  my  birth,  just  as  a  mushroom  is 
a  mushroom  ;  *  what,  then,  do  I  want  with  education  to  teach  me 
to  be  a  thorough  German  ?  "  What  would  these  worthy  people 
have  said,  had  I  asked  them  to  train  themselves  to  become 
thorough  men  ?  Now  had  I  planned  my  educational  institute 
altogether  differently,  had  I  offered  to  train  a  special  class,  body- 
servants,  footmen  or  housemaids,  shoemakers  or  tailors,  trades- 
men or  merchants,  soldiers  or  even  noblemen,  then  should  I  have 
gained  fame  and  glory  for  the  great  usefulness  and  practical 
nature  of  my  institution,  for  certain  ;  and  surely  all  men  would 
have  hastened  to  acknowledge  it  as  an  important  matter,  and  as  a 
thing  to  be  adequately  supported  by  the  State.  I  should  have 
been  held  as  the  right  man  in  the  right  place  by  the  State  and  by 
the  world ;  and  so  much  the  more  because  as  a  State-machine  I 
should  have  been  engaged  in  cutting  out  and  modelling  other 
State-machines.  But  I — I  only  wanted  to  train  up  free,  thinking, 
independent  men  !  Now  who  wants  to  be,  or  who  cares  to  suffer 
another  to  be,  a  free-thinking,  independent  man  ?  If  it  was  folly 
to  talk  about  educating  persons  as  Germans,  what  was  it  to  talk 
about  educating  them  as  men  ?  The  education  of  Germans  was 
felt  to  be  something  extraordinary  and  farfetched  ;  the  education 
of  men  was  a  mere  shadow,  a  deceitful  image,  a  blind  enthusiasm.f 

From  this  digression  I  now  return,  to  continue  my  attempt  at 
making  myself  known  to  you,  as  far  as  is  possible,  in  a  letter ;  by 
which  I  mean  my  real  inner  self,  as  manifested  in  my  endeavours 
and  my  hopes. 

Permit  me,  therefore,  to  go  a  step  nearer  towards  what  lies 
deepest  in  my  soul,  at  least  that  of  it  which  is  communicable  to 
another  person.  I  have  started  by  stating  my  position  from  the 
side  of  knowledge,  now  let  me  state  it  also  from  another  side. 
My  experience,  especially  that  gained  by  lepeated  residences  at 
the  university,  had  taught  me  beyond  a  doubt  that  the  method  of 
education  hitherto  in  use,  especially  where  it  involved  learning 
by  rote,  and  where  it  looked  at  subjects  simply  from  the  outside 


*  Or,  as  we  say,  A  is  A. 

t  A   great  deal  of  Froebel's  irony  might  all   too   truly  be  still  applied  to 
current  educational  work. 


Ii6  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

or  historically,  and  considered  then  capable  of  apprehension  by 
mere  exercise  work,  dulled  the  edge  of  all  high  true  attainment, 
of  all  real  mental  insight,  of  all  genuine  progress  in  scientific 
culture,  of  self-contemplation,  and  thus  of  all  real  knowledge,  and 
of  the  acquisition  of  truth  through  knowledge.  I  might  almost  go 
further,  and  say  that  its  tendency  was  towards  rendering  all 
these  worthy  objects  impossible. 

Therefore,  I  was  firmly  convinced,  as  of  course  I  still  am,  that 
the  whole  former  educational  system,  even  that  which  had  re- 
ceived improvement,  ought  to  be  exactly  reversed,  and  regarded 
from  a  diametrically  opposite  point  of  view — namely,  that  of  a 
system  of  development.  I  answered  those  who  kept  asking  what 
it  was  that  I  really  did  want  after  all,  with  this  sentence  :  "  I 
want  the  exact  opposite  of  what  now  serves  as  educational 
method  and  as  teaching-system  in  general."  I  was,  and  am, 
completely  convinced,  that  after  this  fashion  alone  genuine  know- 
ledge and  absolute  truth,  by  right  the  universal  possessions  of 
mankind,  shall  find  once  again,  not  alone  single  students  here  and 
there,  but  the  vast  majority  of  all  our  true-hearted  young  men 
and  of  our  professors  spreading  far  and  wide  the  elements  of  a 
noble  humanised  life.  To  bring  this  into  a  practical  scheme  I 
held  to  be  my  highest  duty,  a  duty  which  I  could  never  evade, 
and  one  which  I  could  never  shake  off,  since  a  man  cannot  shake 
off  his  own  nature. 

Our  greatest  teachers,  even  Pestalozzi  himself  not  excepted, 
seemed  to  me  too  bare,  too  empirical,*  and  arbitrary,  and  there- 

*  Empiricism — that  is,  a  poiteriori  investigations,  based  on  actual  facts  and 
not  a  priori  deductions  from  theories,  or  general  laws,  did  good  service  before 
Froebel's  time,  and  will  do  good  service  yet,  Froebel  notwithstanding.  In 
Froebel's  time  the  limits  Kant  so  truly  set  to  the  human  understanding  were  over- 
stepped on  every  side  ;  Fichte,  Schelling,  and  Hegel  were  teaching,  and  the 
latter  especially  had  an  overpowering  influence  upon  all  science.  Every  one 
constructed  a  philosophy  of  the  universe  out  of  his  own  brain.  Krause,  the 
recipient  of  this  letter,  never  attained  to  very  great  influence,  though  had 
he  been  in  Hegel's  chair  he  might  perhaps  have  wielded  Hegel's  authority,  and 
there  was  for  a  h:)ng  time  a  great  likehhood  of  his  appointment.  Meanwhile  he 
reconstructed  the  university  at  Gutliiigen.  Even  practical  students  of  Nature, 
such  as  Oken,  did  homage  to  the  general  tendency  which  had  absorbed  all  the 
eagei  spirits  of  the  vanguard  of  human  advancement,  amongst  them    Frotbel 


Autobiography  of  Froehel.  \\n 


fore  not  sufficiently  scientific  in  their  principles— that  is,  not 
sufficiently  led  by  the  laws  of  our  being  ;  they  seemed  to  me 
in  no  wise  to  recognise  the  Divine  element  in  science,  to  feel  its 
worth,  and  to  cherish  it.  Therefore  I  thought  and  hoped,  with 
the  courage  and  inexperience  of  youth,  that  all  scientific  and 
learned  men,  that  the  universities,  in  one  word,  would  immedi- 
ately recognise  the  purport  of  my  efforts,  and  would  strive  with 
all  their  might  to  encourage  me  by  word  and  deed. 

In  this  I  was  egregiously  mistaken;  nevertheless  I  am  not 
ashamed  of  the  error.  But  few  persons  raised  their  voices  for 
me  or  against  me ;  and,  indeed,  your  article  in  the  Isis  is  the 
single  sun-ray  which  really  generously  warmed  and  enlightened 
my  life  and  lifework.  Enough  !  the  Universities  paid  no  heed 
to  the  simple  schoolmaster.*  As  to  the  "able  editors,"  they, 
in  their  reviews,  thought  very  differently  from  me;  but  why 
should  I  trouble  myself  further  with  remembering  their  perform- 
ances, which  were  written  simply  with  the  object  of  degrading 
jne  and  my  work  ?  They  never  succeeded  in  shaking  my  con- 
victions in  the  least. 


himself.  We  see  how  firmly  set  Froebel  was  against  experience-teaching, 
a  posteriori  work,  or,  as  he  calls  it,  empiricism.  The  Kantist,  Arthur  Schopen- 
hauer, was  not  listened  to,  and  dwelt  apart,  devouring  his  heart  in  bitter 
silence ;  breaking  out  at  last  with  the  dreary  creed  of  Pessimism. 

*  Froebel  is  here  hardly  fair.  How  should  people  know  much  of  him 
as  yet?  He  had  at  this  time  written  the  following  works: — (i)  "On  the 
Universal  German  Educational  Institute  of  Rudolstadt"  (1822);  (2)  "Con- 
tinuation of  the  Account  of  the  Universal  German  Educational  Institute  at 
Keilhau  "  (1823)  ;  (3)  "  Christmas  at  Keilhau  :  a  Christmas  Gift  to  the  Parents 
of  the  Pupils  at  Keilhau,  to  the  Friends  and  the  Members  of  the  Institute  " 
(1824)  ;  (4)  "The  Menschen  Erziehung,"  the  full  title  of  which  was  "The 
Education  of  Man  :  The  Art  of  Education,  Instruction,  and  Teaching,  as  attempted 
to  be  realised  at  the  Universal  Educational  Institute  at  Keilhau,  set  forth  by 
the  Originator,  Founder,  and  Principal  of  the  Institute,  Friedrich  Froebel " 
(1826),  never  completed,  (5)  Family  Weekly  Journal  of  Education  for 
Self-culture  and  the  Training  of  Others,  edited  by  Friedrich  Froebel,  Leipzig 
and  Keilhau,  But  Froebel,  in  his  unbusiness-like  way,  published  all  these 
productions  privately.  They  came  out  of  course  under  every  disadvantage,  and 
could  only  reach  the  hands  of  learned  persons,  and  those  to  whom  they  were 
really  of  interest,  by  the  merest  chance.  Further,  Froebel,  as  has  already 
abundantly  appeared,  was  but  a  poor  author.     His  stiff,   turgid  style  makes 


Ii8  Autobwgraphy  of  Froebel. 

I  regard  the  simple  course  of  development,  proceeding  from 
analysis  to  synthesis,  which  characterises  pure  reasoned  thought, 
as  also  the  natural  course  of  the  development  of  every  human 
being.  Such  a  course  of  development,  exactly  opposite  to  the 
path  taken  by  the  old-fashioned  methods  of  education,  I  now  see 
mankind  about  to  enter  upon  ;  nay,  it  has  been  actually  entered 
upon  already  in  a  few  single  cases,  though  these  cases  are 
almost  unknown  and  therefore  unregarded  ;  and  with  this  new 
course  of  development  a  new  period  is  to  begin,  a  new  age  for 
all  mankind,  and  therefore  in  the  higher  inner  sense  a  new  world  ; 
a  world,  perceiving  and  understanding,  perceived  and  understood  ; 
a  world  of  crystal  clearness,  creating  an  altogether  new  life  for 
science,  and  carrying  onward  therefore  the  true  science,  that  is, 
the  science  of  being,  and  all  that  is  founded  upon  this  and  con- 
ditioned by  this.* 

I  may  image  forth  the  position  of  my  educational  establish- 
ment with  regard  to  the  universities,  under  the  figure  of  family 
life. 

In  a  healthily  constituted  family  it  is  the  mother  who  first  cares 
for,  watches  over,  and  develops  the  child,  teaches  him  to  "  read, 
mark,  learn,  and  inwardly  digest,"  deriving  everything  she  teaches 
from  its  central  unity,  and  gathering  up  her  teaching  into  that 
unity  again. 

The  father  receives  his  son  from  the  hand  and  the  heart  of  the 


his  works  in  many  places  most  difficult  to  understand,  as  the  present  translators 
have  found  to  their  cost,  and  he  was  therefore  practically  unreadable  to  the 
general  public.  In  his  usual  self-absorbed  fashion,  he  did  not  perceive  these 
deficiencies  of  his,  nor  could  he  be  got  to  see  the  folly  of  private  publication. 
Indeed,  on  the  contrary,  he  dreamed  of  fabulous  sums  which  one  day  he  was 
to  realise  by  the  sale  of  his  works.  It  is  needless  to  add  that  the  event  proved 
very  much  the  reverse.  As  to  criticism,  it  was  particularly  the  "  able  editor  ' 
Ilarnisch  who  pulled  to  pieces  the  "  Mcnschen  Erziehung  "  so  pitilessly  on  its 
appearance,  and  who  is  probably  here  referred  to. 

*  This  passage  may  serve  as  a  sufficient  illustration  of  FroebeFs  metaphysical 
way  of  looking  at  his  subject.  It  is  scarcely  our  habit  at  the  present  day  to 
regard  the  science  of  being  (ontology)  as  a  science  at  all,  smce  it  is  utterly 
incapable  of  verification  ;  but  it  is  not  difficult  to  trace  the  important  truth 
really  held  by  Froebel  even  through  the  somewhat  perplexing  folds  of  scholastic 
philosophy  in  which  he  has  clothed  it. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  119 


mother ;  with  his  soul  already  full  of  true  active  life,  of  desire 
for  the  knowledge  of  causes  and  effects,  for  the  understanding 
of  the  whole  and  its  ramifications ;  with  his  mind  open  to  the 
truth  and  his  eyes  to  the  light,  and  with  a  perpetually  nourished 
yearning  for  creative  activity,  able  to  observe  while  building  up, 
and  to  recognise  while  taking  apart ;  such  in  himself  and  his  sur- 
roundings, always  active,  creative,  full  of  thought  and  endeavour, 
does  the  father  receive  his  son  in  his  home,  to  train  and  teach 
him  for  the  wider  life  outside.  Thus  should  it  be  with  my 
educational  institute  and  the  universities ;  as  regards  the  growth 
and  development  of  man  I  only  desire  to  take  the  place  of  the 
silently  working,  tenderly  cherishing  mother. 

The  life,  the  will,  the  understanding,  these  three  must  form  the 
common  chord  or  triad  of  the  harmony  of  human  life,  now  one 
tone,  now  another,  now  two  of  the  three,  rising  powerfully  above 
the  rest.  But  where  these  tones  are  separate  and  inharmonious 
there  they  work  to  discord,  as  we  see  but  too  clearly  in  daily 
life  :— 

"  Wrestling  with  life  and  with  death,  suspended  between  them  we  hang." 

In  whatever  family  this  chord  is  from  the  first  set  sweetly  in 
tune,  its  pure  concords  uniting  to  form  the  fundamental  har- 
mony of  existence,  there  all  the  hobgoblins  of  ordinary  life,  which 
even  yet  often  unite  to  annoy  us,  will  be  driven  far  away,  there 
will  joy  and  peace  perpetually  inhabit,  there  will  heaven  descend 
to  earth  and  earth  rise  up  to  heaven ;  to  a  heaven,  moreover, 
as  full  of  contentment,  as  responsive  to  every  yearning  of  the 
soul  as  ever  the  Church  has  painted. 

But  since  all  true  and  earnest  life  must  arise  from  and  return 
to  the  ideal  life,  to  life  in  itself,  so  must  a  school  of  development, 
which  is  to  lead  men,  by  means  of  their  ordinary  life,  towards  that 
higher  fife,  be  itself  a  true  school  of  religious  training  in  the  most 
comprehensive  sense  of  the  word. 

Man  ought  not  to  be  contented  with  teaching  merely  directed 
to  satisfy  his  needs  as  a  child  of  earth,  but  must  demand  and 
receive  from  education  a  true  foundation,  a  creative,  satisfying 
preparation  for  all  the  grades  of  development  of  nature  and  the 
world  which  mankind  encounters,  and   for  the  everlasting  here 


120  Autobiography  of  Frocbel. 


and  beyond  of  each  new  moment  of  existence,  for  the  everlasting 
rest,  the  everlasting  activity,  the  everlasting  life  in  God. 

As,  however,  it  is  only  as  a  Christian,  be  he  consciously  or 
unconsciously  so,  baptised  or  unbaptised,  taking  the  Christian 
name  or  rejecting  it,  that  he  can  think  and  act  after  this  fashion, 
you  can  see  at  once  the  reason  why  my  system  of  education  feels 
itself  to  be,  and  in  fact  claims  to  be,  an  education  after  the  true 
spirit,  and  following  the  precepts  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Through  love,  mutual  faith,  and  a  common  aim  towards  acquir- 
ing, manifesting,  and  acting  out  knowledge,  there  has  grown  up 
round  me  a  little  company  of  men  bound  together  by  beautiful 
human  bonds,  the  like  of  which  you  would  with  difficulty  find 
elsewhere.  In  your  last  letter  you  desired  to  have  some  account 
of  these  friends  and  members  of  my  household.  I  will  describe 
them  for  you. 

But  if  my  account  is  to  be  anything  more  than  a  lifeless  list  of 
names,  and  if,  though  it  cannot  be  the  closely-branched  tree  of  hfe 
which  actually  exists,  it  is  at  least  to  come  as  near  it  as  a  garland 
or  a  nosegay  to  the  tree,  you  must  permit  me  to  go  back  a  little 
into  my  past  life  ;  for  out  of  the  self-same  spirit,  whence  arose 
my  own  endeavours  and  which  gave  its  direction  to  my  own  life, 
arose  also  the  circle  of  those  friends  who  are  now  so  closely 
united  with  me. 

The  German  war  of  1813,  in  which  so  much  seed-corn  was 
sowed  that  perhaps  only  the  smaller  part  of  it  has  yet  sprung 
up,  to  say  nothing  of  blossoming  and  fruitage,  sowed  also  the 
seed  whence  sprang  the  first  beginnings  of  our  association,  and 
of  our  harmonious  circle.  In  April  1813  Jahn  led  me  and  other 
Berlin  students  to  meet  my  future  comrades  in  arms,  Liitzow's 
"  Black  Troop  ;  "  we  went  from  Berlin  to  Dresden,  and  thence  for 
the  most  part  to  Leipzig.  On  this  march  jahn  made  me  acquainted 
before  we  reached  Meissen  with  another  Berlin  student,  Heinrich 
Langethal,  of  Erfurt,  as  a  fellow-countryman  of  mine ;  and 
Langethal  introduced  me  to  his  friend  and  fellow-student  in 
theology,  Middendorff,  of  Brechten,  near  Dortmund.* 

A  wonderfully   lovely   spring   evening  spent   together  by  the 

*  See  the  previous  footnote,  p.  93. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  121 


friendly  shores  of  Elbe,  and  a  visit  to  the  magnificent  Cathedral 
of  Meissen,  brought  me  nearer  to  these  and  other  comrades ;  but 
it  was  the  pleasant  banks  of  Havel  at  Havelberg,  the  charming 
situation  of  the  grand  cathedral,  the  "  Rhine  Travels  "  of  Georg 
Forster,  a  common  love  for  nature,  and  above  all  a  common  eager 
yearning  for  higher  culture  that  bound  us  three  for  ever  together.* 

The  v^ar  in  all  its  exhilaration  and  depression,  its  privation  and 
pleasure,  its  transient  and  its  permanent  aspects,  flowed  on ; 
sometimes  nearer  to  us,  sometimes  further  away.  In  August 
1814  I  was  released  from  service,  and  returned  to  Berlin,  there 
to  enter  upon  the  post  t  at  the  University  Museum, 'which  I  have 
already  mentioned. 

Soon  after,  quite  unexpectedly,  I  ran  against  my  friends  again, 
who  had  come  back  to  Berlin  to  finish  their  studies.  After  being 
somewhat  separated  by  the  nature  of  our  work,  they  as  eagerly 
studying  theology  as  I  did  natural  science,  our  common  need  and 
inner  aspiration  brought  us  once  more  together.  They  had 
taken  some  private  teaching,  and  were  frequently  driven  to  seek 
my  counsel  and  instruction  by  the  difficulties  of  their  new  posi- 
tion. When  the  war  broke  out  afresh  in  181 5,  Middendorff  had 
been  living  for  several  months  previously  with  me  as  room 
companion.  Thus  had  life  thrown  us  closely  together,  so  that  I 
could  see  each  one  exactly  as  he  was,  in  all  his  individuality,  with 
his  qualities  and  his  deficiencies,  with  what  he  could  contribute, 
^nd  what  he  would  have  to  receive  from  others. 

In  October  181 6  I  left  my  post,  and  quitted  Berlin,  without  as 
yet  confiding  to  any  one  exactly  what  outward  aim  I  had  in  view, 
simply  saying  that  I  would  write  and  give  some  account  of  myself 
as  soon  as  I  had  found  what  I  set  out  to  seek.  In  November  of 
the  same  year  my  dearly  loved  brother,t  the  eldest  now  living, 
whom  I  made  my  confidant  so  far  as  that  was  possible,  and  who 
was  at  that  time  a  manufacturer  at  Osterode  in  the  Harz  district, 
gave  me  his  two  sons  to  educate.    They  were  his  only  sons,  though 


*  These  events  and  situations  are  fully  set  forth  in  the  letter  to  the  Duke  of 
Meiningen,  ante. 
■\  As  mineralogist. 
\  Christian  Ludwig  Froebc- 


122  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

not  his  only  children  ;  two  boys  of  six  and  eight  years  old 
respectively.  With  these  boys  I  set  out  for  a  village  on  the  Ilm 
called  Griesheim,  and  there  I  added  to  my  little  family,  first  two, 
then  a  third,  that  is,  altogether  three  other  nephews,  the  orphan  sons 
of  my  late  dearest  brother,*  he  who  had  always  best  sympathised 
with  me  through  life.  He  had  been  minister  at  Griesheim,  and 
his  widow  still  lived  there.  He  had  died  of  hospital  fever  in 
1813,  just  after  the  cessation  of  the  war.  I  reckon,  therefore,  the 
duration  of  my  present  educational  work  from  November  i6th, 
1816. 

Already  I  had  written  from  Osterode  to  Middendorff  at  Berlin^ 
inviting  him  and  Langethal  to  join  me  and  help  in  working  out 
a  system  of  life  and  education  worthy  of  tnan.  It  was  only 
possible  for  Middendorff  to  reach  me  by  April  181 7,  and 
Langethal  could  not  arrive  until  even  the  following  September. 
The  latter,  however,  sent  me,  by  Middendorff,  his  brother,  a  boy 
of  eleven  years  old  ;  f  so  that  I  now  had  six  pupils.  In  June  of 
the  same  year  (18 17)  family  reasons  caused  me  to  move  from 
Griesheim  to  this  place,  Keilhau.J  Next  came  other  pupils  also, 
with  Langethal's  arrival  in  September.  My  household  was 
growing  fast,  and  yet  I  had  no  house  of  my  own.  In  a  way  only 
comprehensible  to  Him  Who  knows  the  workings  of  the  mind,  I 
managed  by  November  to  get  the  school  that  I  now  occupy  built 
as  a  frame-house,  but  without  being  in  possession  of  the  ground 
it  stood  on. 

I  pass  over  the  space  of  a  year,  which  was  nevertheless  so  rich 
in  experiences  of  trouble  and  joy,  of  times  when  we  were  cast 
down,  and  other  times  when  we  were  lifted  up,  that  its  description 
would  easily  fill  many  times  the  space  even  of  this  long  letter. 
In  June  of  the  following  year  I  became  in  the  most  remarkable 
way  possessor  of  the  little  farm  which  I  still  hold,  in  Keilhau,  and 
thus  for  the  first  time  possessor  also  of  the  land  upon  which  the 


*  Christoph. 

t  This  younger  Langethal  afterwards  became  a  Professor  in  the  University 
of  Jena. 

X  The  minister's  widow  lost  her  widow's  privilege  of  residence  at  Griesheim 
by  the  death  of  her  father,  and  bought  a  farm  at  Keilhau. 


Autobiography  of  Froebel.  123 


schoolhouse  had  already  been  erected.*  As  yet  there  were  no 
other  buildings  there. 

In  September  1818  I  brought  to  the  household,  still  further 
increased,  and  now  so  rich  with  children  and  brothers,  its  house- 
wife, in  the  person  of  a  lady  whom  a  like  love  of  Nature  and  of 
childhood  with  my  own,  and  a  like  high  and  earnest  conception 
of  education,  as  the  preparation  for  a  life  worthy  of  man,  had 
drawn  towards  me.  She  was  accompanied  by  a  young  girl  whom 
she  had  some  time  before  adopted  as  a  daughter,  and  who  now 
came  with  her  to  assist  her  in  the  duties  of  the  household.f 

We  had  now  a  severe  struggle  for  existence  for  the  whole  time 
up  to  1820.  With  all  our  efforts  we  never  could  get  the  school 
house  enlarged  ;  other  still  more  necessary  buildings  had  to  be 
erected  first,  under  pressing  need  for  them.  J     In  the  year  1820, 

*  Froebel  told  his  sister-in-law  that  he  "  desired  to  be  a  father  to  her 
orphaned  children."  The  widow  understood  this  in  quite  a  special  and  peculiar 
sense,  whereof  Froebel  had  not  the  remotest  idea.  Later  on,  when  she  came 
to  know  that  Froebel  was  engaged  to  another  lady,  she  made  over  to  him 
the  Keilhau  farm,  and  herself  went  to  live  at  Volkstadt. 

t  This  young  ghl,  the  adopted  daughter  of  the  first  Madame  Froebel,  was 
named  Ernestine  Chrispine,  and  afterwards  married  Langethal.  Froebel's 
first  wife,  Henrietta  Wilhelmine  Hoffmeister,  was  born  at  Berlin  20lh  Septem- 
ber, 1780,  and  was  therefore  thirty-eight  at  the  time  of  her  marriage.  She  was 
a  remarkable  woman,  highly  cultured,  a  pupil  of  Schleiermacher  and  of  Fichte. 
Before  her  marriage  with  Froebel  she  had  been  married  to  an  official  in  the 
"War  Office,  and  had  been  separated  from  him  on  account  of  his  misconduct. 
Middendorff  and  Langethal  knew  the  family  well,  and  had  frequently  spoken 
with  Froebel  about  this  lady,  who  was  admired  and  respected  by  both  of  them. 
Froebel  saw  her  once  in  the  mineralogical  museum  at  Berlin,  and  was  wonder- 
fully struck  by  her,  especially  because  of  the  readiness  in  which  she  entered  into 
his  educational  ideas.  When  afterwards  he  desired  to  marry,  he  wrote  to  the  lady 
and  invited  her  to  give  up  her  life  to  the  furtherance  of  those  ideas  with  which 
she  had  once  shown  herself  to  be  so  deeply  penetrated,  and  to  become  his  wife. 
She  received  his  proposal  favourably,  but  her  father,  an  old  War  Office  official, 
at  first  made  objections.  Eventually  she  left  her  comfortable  home  to  plunge 
amidst  the  privations  and  hardships  of  all  kinds  abundantly  connected  with 
educational  struggles.  She  soon  rose  to  great  honour  with  all  the  little  circle, 
and -was  deeply  loved  and  most  tenderly  treated  by  Froebel  himself.  In  her 
willmgness  to  make  sacrifices  and  her  cheerfulness  under  privations,  she  set 
them  all  an  example.     She  died  at  Blankenburg  in  May  1839. 

X  The  expected  dowry  was  never  forthcoming,  which  made  matters  harder. 


124  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 


on  Ascension  Day,  my  brother  from  Osterode,  whose  two  sons 
were  already  my  pupils,  came  to  join  me  with  his  whole  family 
and  all  his  possessions;  urged  by  his  love  for  his  boys,  and  a  wish  to 
help  in  the  advancement  of  my  life's  purpose.  As  my  brother, 
beyond  the  two  sons  I  have  mentioned,  had  three  daughters,  my 
family  was  increased  by  five  persons  through  his  arrival.  * 

The  completion  of  the  school-house  was  now  pushed  on  with 
zeal;  but  it  was  1822  before  we  got  it  finished.  Our  life  from 
this  point  becomes  so  complex  that  it  is  impossible  to  do  more 
than  just  mention  what  applies  to  the  Association  formed  by 
our  still  united  members. 

In  1823,  MiddendorfiPs  sister's  son  Barop,  till  then  a  divinity 
student  in  Halle,  visited  us;  and  he  was  so  impressed  by  the 
whole  work  that  he  was  irresistibly  driven  soon  afterwards  to  join 
us  in  our  life-task.f  Since  1823,  with  the  exception  of  such  breaks 
as  his  work  in  life  demanded,  he  has  been  uninterruptedly  one  of 
our  community,  sharing  in  our  work.  At  this  moment  %  he  is  in 
Berlin,  serving  his  one  year  with  the  colours  as  a  volunteer,  and 
devoting  what  time  he  has  to  spare,  to  earnest  study,  especially 
that  of  natural  science.  We  hope  to  have  him  back  with  us  next 
spring.  In  the  autumn  of  1825  Langethal  became  engaged  to  my 
wife's  adopted  daughter,  who  had  come  with  her  from  Berlin ; 
and  Middendorflf  became  engaged  to  my  brother's  eldest  daughter. 
Ascension  Day  1826  was  the  wedding-day  for  both  couples. 
Heaven  blessed  each  marriage  with  a  daughter,  but  took  back  to 
itself  the  little  one  of  Langethal. 

Still  another  faithful  colleague  must  I  remember  here,  Herr 
Carl    from    Hildburghausen,    who   has    been  since    New    Year's 


*  Christian  had  already  assisted  his  brother  at  Griesheim,  and  before  that,  to 
the  utmost  of  his  power.  The  three  daughters  were  (l)  Albertine,  born  29th 
December,  1801,  afterwards  married  Middendorflf;  (2)  Emilie,  born  llth 
July,  1804,  married  Barop,  died  i8th  August,  i860,  at  Keilhau  ;  (3)  Elise, 
liorn  5th  January,  1814,  married  Dr.  .Sieglried  SchafTner,  one  of  the  Keilhau 
colleagues,  later  on. 

t  Johannes  Arnold  Barop,  Middendorflf  s  nephew,  was  born  at  Dortmund, 
29th  November,  1802.  He  afterwards  became  proprietor  and  principal  of 
Keilhau. 

X  March  1828. 


Autobiography  of  Frocbcl.  125 

Day  1825  a  member  of  our  Institute,  his  particular  work  being 
to  teach  instrumental  music  and  singing.  He  lives  and  works  in 
the  true  spirit  of  the  Institute,  and  is  bound  up  heart  and  soul 
with  its  fortunes.*  Of  other  teachers,  who  have  assisted  us  in 
the  Institute  for  greater  or  less  time,  I  need  not  speak ;  they 
never  properly  belonged  to  our  circle.  Amongst  all  the  speci- 
ally associated  members  of  our  little  band,  not  one  breach 
has  occurred  since  the  beginning  of  our  work.  I  would  I  could 
feel  that  I  had  accomplished  what  I  have  aimed  at  in  this  letter — 
namely,  to  make  you  acquainted  with  the  inner  de^  ,j-seated 
common  life  which  really  binds  together  the  members  composing 
our  outwardly  united  association ;  although  it  has  only  been 
feasible  rather  to  suggest  by  implication  the  internal  mental 
phenomena  of  the  external  bonds  of  union  than  properly  to  indi- 
cate them  and  to  set  them  clearly  forth. 


*  This  excellent  man  was  drowned  in  the  Saale  while  bathing,  soon  after  this 
letter  was  written. 


1 26  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 


This  ends  the  autobiographical  part  of  the  Krause  letter.  Here 
and  there  in  the  footnotes  the  present  editors,  profound  admirers  of 
the  great  master,  have  ventured  to  criticise  frankly  the  inordinate 
belief  in  himself  which  was  at  once  Froebel's  strength  ,ind  his  weak- 
ness. On  the  one  hand,  his  noble  and  truly  gigantic  efforts  were  only 
made  possible  by  his  almost  fanatical  conviction  in  his  principles 
and  in  his  mission.  On  the  other  hand,  this  dogmatic  attitude 
made  it  very  difficult  to  work  with  him,  for  persons  of  any  inde- 
pendence of  mind.  He  could  scarcely  brook  discussion,  never 
contradiction.  This  is  most  characteristically  shown  by  a  frag- 
ment of  Froebel's  dated  ist  April,  1829,  as  follows  : — 

"  I  consider  ;ny  own  work  and  effort  as  unique  in  all  time,  as 
necessary  in  itself,  and  as  the  messenger  of  reformation  for  all  ages, 
working  forwards  and  backwards,  offering  and  giving  to  mankind 
all  that  it  needs,  and  all  that  it  perpetually  seeks  on  every  side. 
1  have  no  complaint  to  make  if  others  think  otherwise  about  it ;  I 
can  bear  with  them  ;*  I  can  even,  if  need  be,  live  with  them,  and 
this  I  have  actually  done ;  but  I  can  share  no  life-aim  with  them, 
they  and  I  have  no  unity  of  purpose  in  life.  It  is  not  I,  it  is  they 
who  are  at  fault  herein  ;  I  do  not  separate  myself  from  them, 
they  withdraw  themselves  from  me." 

To  get  a  view  of  Froebel's  work  from  the  practical  side,  so  as 
to  supplement  the  account  we  have  received  from  Froebel  himself 
as  to  the  origination  and  development  of  the  principles  upon 
which  that  work  was  based,  we  have  selected  a  sketch  by  Barop 
entitled  "  Critical  Moments  in  the  Froebel  Community  ;  "  written 
for  Dr.  Lange's  edition  by  Barop  (then  the  principal  and  proprietor 
of  Keilhau)  about  the  year  1862. 

♦  He  always  regarded  himself  as  perfectly  tolerant. 


CRITICAL  MOMENTS  IN  THE  FROEBEL 
COMMUNITY. 


iNDER  this  heading  Barop  writes  as  follows  : — 

About  1827  we  were  in  an  unusually  critical 
position.  You  know  how  little  means  we  had 
when  we  began  to  create  our  Institution.*  Mid- 
dendorff'  had  sacrificed  his  entire  inheritance  from 
his  father,  but  the  purchase  of  the  ground  and  the  erection 
of  necessary  buildings  called  for  considerable  sums,  so  that 
Middendorffs  addition  to  the  capital  had  disappeared  like  drops 
of  water  falling  on  a  hot  stone.  My  father-in-law.  Christian 
Ludwig  Froebel,  had  later  on  come  forward  and  placed  his  entire 
fortune  unconditionally  in  the  hands  of  his  brother,f  but  even  this 
sacrifice  was  not  sufficient  to  keep  away  care  and  want  from  the 
door.  My  own  father  was  a  man  of  means,  but  he  was  so  angry  at 
my  joining  the  Froebel  community  at  Keilhau  +  that  he  refused  me 
any  assistance  whatever.  Mistrust  surrounded  us  on  all  sides  in 
these  early  years  of  our  work  ;  open  and  concealed  enmities 
assailed  us  both  from  near  and  far,  and  sought  to  embitter  our  lot 
and  to  nip  our  efforts  in  the  bud.  None  the  less  for  this,  the 
institution  blossomed  quick  and  fair ;  but  later  on,  through  the 
well-known  persecution  directed  against  associations  of  students, 
it  was  brought  to  the  verge  of  ruin,  for  the  spirit  of  18 15  was 
incarnate  within  it,  and  it  was  this  spirit  which  at  the  time 
(about    1827)    was    the  object   of  the  extremest   irritation. §     It 

*  Froebel  moved  from  Griesheim  to  Keilhau  in  1817. 

t  In  1820. 

X  It  was  in  1828  that  Barop  formally  and  definitely  joined  the  Froebel  com- 
munity. 

§  The  long  turmoil  of  the  Napoleonic  wars,  the  outcome  of  the  French  Revo- 
lution, ceased  in  1815  ;  and  the  minds  of  the  students  and  the  other  youths  of 
the  country,  set  free  from  this  terrible  struggle  for  liberty,  turned  towards  the 


128  Critical  Moments  in 


would  carry  me  too  far  were  I  to  attempt  to  give  a  complete 
account  of  these  things.  At  times  it  really  seemed  as  if  the  devil 
himself  must  be  let  loose  against  us.  The  number  of  our  pupils 
sank  to  five  or  six,  and  as  the  small  receipts  dwindled  more  and 
more,  so  did  the  burden  of  debt  rise  higher  and  higher  till  it 
reached  a  giddy  height.  Creditors  stormed  at  us  from  every  side, 
urged  on  by  lawyers  who  imbrued  their  hands  in  our  misery. 
Froebel  would  run  out  at  the  back  door  and  escape  amongst  the 
hills  whenever  dunning  creditors  appeared.  Middendorff,  and  he 
alone,  generally  succeeded  in  quieting  them,  a  feat  which  might 
seem  incredible  to  all  but  those  who  have  known  the  fascination 
of  MiddendorfiPs  address.  Sometimes  quite  moving  scenes 
occurred,  full  of  forbearance,  trustfulness,  and  noble  sentiment,  on 
the  part  of  workmen  who  had  come  to  ask  us  for  their  money, 
A  locksmith,  for  instance,  was  strongly  advised  by  his  lawyer  to 
"  bring  an  action  against  the  scamps,"  from  whom  no  money  was 
to  be  got,  and  who  were  evidently  on  the  point  of  failure.  The 
locksmith  indignantly  repudiated  the  insult  thus  levelled  against 
us,  and  replied  shortly  that  he  had  rather  lose  his  hard-earned 
money  than  hold  a  doubt  as  to  our  honourable  conduct,  and  that 
nothing  was  further  from  his  thoughts  than  to  increase  our 
troubles.  Ah  !  and  these  troubles  were  hard  to  bear,  for  Midden- 
dorff had  already  married,  and  I  followed  his  example.  When  I 
proposed  for  my  wife,  my  future  father-in-law  and  mother-in-law  * 
said,  "  You  surely  will  not  remain  longer  in  Keilhau  ? "  I 
answered,  "Yes!  I  do  intend  to  remain  here.  The  idea  for 
wliich  we  live  seems  to  me  to  be  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of 
the  age,  and  also  of  deep  importance  in  itself;  and  I  have  no 
doubt  but  that  men  will  come  to  believe  in  us  because  of  our  right 
understanding  of  this  idea,  in  the  same  way  that  we  ourselves 
believe  in  the  invisible."  As  a  matter  of  fact,  none  of  us  have  ever 
swerved  one  instant  from  the  fullest  belief  in  our  educational 
mission,  and  the  most  critical   dilemma    in  the  times   we    have 

reformation  of  their  own  country.     Many  associations  were  formed  :  perhaps 
here  and  there  wild  talk  was  indulged  in.     The  Government  grew  alarmed, 
and  though  the  students  had  invariably  acted  with  perfect  legality,  all  their  asso- 
ciations were  dispersed  and  forbidden. 
*  Christian  Froebel  and  his  wife. 


the  Froebel  Community.  i2g 


passed  through  has  never  revealed  one  single  wavering  soul  in 
this  little  valley. 

When  our  distress  had  risen  to  its  highest  pitch,  a  new  and 
unexpected  prospect  suddenly  revealed  itseIf.-'=  Several  very 
influential  friends  of  ours  spoke  to  the  Duke  of  Meiningen  of  our 
work.  He  summoned  Frpebel  to  him,  and  made  inquiries  as  to 
his  plans  for  the  future./i^roebel  laid  before  him  a  plan  for  an 
educational  institute,!  complete  in  every  particular,  which  we 
had  all  worked  at  in  common  to  draw  up,  in  which  not  only  the 
ordinary  '-  learned  "  branches  of  education  but  also  handicrafts, 
such  as  carpentering,  weaving,  bookbinding,  tilling  the  ground 
and  so  on  were  used  as  means  of  culture.  During  half  the  school 
hours  studies  were  to  be  pursued,  and  the  other  half  was  to  be 
occupied  by  handiwork  of  one  kind  or  another.  This  work  was 
to  give  opportunities  for  direct  instruction  ;  and  above  all  it  was 
so  planned  as  to  excite  in  the  mind  of  the  child  a  necessity  for 
explanations  as  well  as  to  gratify  his  desire  for  creativeness  and 
for  practical  usefulness.  The  awakening  of  this  eager  desire  for 
learning  and  creative  activity,  was  one  of  the  fundamental  thoughts 
of  Friedrich  Froebel's  mind.'^^The  object-teaching  of  Pestalozzi 
seemed  to  him  not  to  go  far  enough  ;  and  he  was  always  seeking 
to  regard  man  not  only  as  a  receptive  being,  but  a  creative,  and 
especially  as  a  productive  one.  We  never  could  work  out  our  ideas 
in  Keilhau  satisfactorily,  because  we  could  not  procure  efficient 
technical  teaching;  and  before  all  things  we  wanted  the  pupils  them- 
selves. But  now  by  the  help  of  the  Duke  of  Meiningen  our  keenest 
hopes  seemed  on  the  point  of  gratification.  The  working  out  of  the 
plan  spoken  of  above,  led  us  to  many  practical  constructions  in 
which  already  lay  the  elements  of  the  future  Kindergarten  occupa- 
tions. These  models  are  now  scattered  far  and  wide,  and  inc'eed 
are  for  the  most  part  lost ;  but  the  written  plan  has  been  preserved. 

The  Duke  of  Meiningen  was  much  pleased  with  Froebel's 
explanations  of  this  plan,  and  with  the  complete  and  open-hearted 


*  This  was  1827-29. 

f  This  is  the  interesting  plan  of  the  Public  Educational  Institution  and 
Orphanage  in  Helba,  with  which  admirers  of  Froebel  are  probably  already  well 
acquainted.     It  is  given  in  full  in  Lange's  "  Froebel,"  vol.  i.,  p.  401. 

9 


T-^O  Critical  Moments  t'n 


way  in  which  everything  was  laid  before  him.  A  proposition 
was  now  made  that  Froebel  should  receive  the  estate  of  Helba 
with  thirty  acres  of  land,  and  a  yearly  subsidy  of  i,ooo  florins.* 
In  passing  it  may  be  noticed  that  Froebel  was  consulted  by  the 
duke  as  to  the  education  of  the  hereditary  prince.  Froebel  at 
once  said  outright  that  no  good  would  be  done  for  the  future  ruler 
if  he  were  not  brought  up  in  the  society  of  other  boys.  The  duke 
came  to  his  opinion,  and  the  prince  was  actually  so  taught  and 
brought  up. 

When  Froebel  came  back  from  Meiningent  the  whole  com- 
munity was  naturally  overjoyed ;  but  their  joy  did  not  last  very 
long.  A  man  of  high  station  in  Meiningen  who  was  accustomed 
to  exercise  a  sort  of  dictatorship  in  educational  matters,  as  he 
was  the  right-hand  man  of  the  prince  in  such  things,  a  man  also 
who  had  earned  an  honourable  place  in  literature  (of  which  no 
one  surely  would  seek  to  deprive  him),  feared  much  lest  the 
elevation  of  Froebel  should  injure  his  own  influence.  We  were 
therefore,  all  of  a  sudden,  once  again  assailed  with  the  meanest  and 
most  detestable  charges,  to  which  our  unfortunate  position  at 
Keilhau  lent  a  convenient  handle.  The  duke  received  secret 
warnings  against  us.  He  began  to  waver,  and  in  a  temporising 
way  sent  again  to  Froebel,  proposing  that  he  should  first  try  a  pro- 
visional'establishment  of  twenty  pupils  as  an  experiment.  Froebel 
saw  the  intention  in  the  duke's  mind,  and  was  thrown  out  of 
humour  at  once ;  for  when  he  suspected  mistrust  he  lost  all 
hope,  and  immediately  cast  from  his  mind  what  a  few  hours 
before  had  so  warmly  encouraged  him.  Therefore  Froebel 
at  once  broke  off  all  negotiations,  and  set  out  for  Frankfurt, 
to  discuss  the  work  at  Keilhau  with  his  friends;  since  after 
so  many  troubles  he  had  almost  begun  to  lose  faith  in  him- 
self. Here  by  chance  he  met  the  well-known  musical  composer 
Schnyder,  from  Wartensee.  He  told  this  gentleman  of  the  events 
which  had  just  occurred,  talked  to  him  of  his  plans  and  of  our 
work  at  Keilhau,  and  exercised  upon  him  that  overpowering 
influence    which    is    the    peculiar    property    of    creative    minds. 


*  Say  ;{;"ioo. 
t  In  1829. 


the  Froehel  Community.  131 

Schnyder  saw  the  value  of  his  efforts,  and  begged  him  to  set  up 
an  educational  establishment  in  his  castle  on  the  Wartensee,  in 
Switzerland*  Froebel  hurriedly  seized  with  joy  the  hand  thus 
held  out  to  him,  and  at  once  set  oif  for  Wartensee  with  his 
nephew,  my  brother-in-law  Ferdinand. 

There  Friedrich  and  Ferdinand  Froebel  had  already  been  living 
and  working  some  little  time  when  I  was  asked  by  the  rest  of  the 
community  who  still  remained  at  Keilhau  to  go  and  see  for  myself 
exactly  how  they  were  getting  on  in  Switzerland.  With  ten 
thalers  f  in  my  pocket,  and  in  possession  of  one  old  summer  coat, 
which  I  wore,  and  a  threadbare  frock-coat,  which  I  carried  over 
my  arm,  I  set  off  on  "  Shanks's  mare  "  +  to  travel  the  whole  way 
If  I  were  to '  go  into  details  as  to  what  I  went  through  on  that 
journey,  I  should  probably  run  the  risk  of  being  charged  with 
gross  exaggeration.  Enough,  I  got  to  my  destination,  and  when 
I  asked  in  the  neighbourhood  about  my  friends  and  their  doings, 
I  learned  from  every  one  that  there  was  nothing  further  to  say 
against  "  the  heretics,"  than  that  they  were  heretics.  A  few 
peasant  children  from  the  neighbourhood  had  found  their  way  to 
them,  but  no  one  came  to  them  from  any  distance,  as  had  been 
reckoned  upon  from  the  first  by  Froebel  as  a  source  of  income. 
The  ill-will  of  the  clergy,  which  began  to  show  itself  immediately 
the  institution  was  founded,  and  which  became  stronger  as  the 
footing  of  our  friends  grew  firmer,  was  able  to  gather  to  itself  a 
following  sufficient  to  check  any  quick  growth  of  our  undertaking. 
Besides,  the  basis  for  such  an  establishment  was  not  to  be  found 
at  Wartensee.  Schnyder  had,  indeed,  with  a  generosity  never  too 
greatly  to  be  admired  and  praised,  made  over  to  us  his  castle  and 
all  its  furniture,  his  plate,  his  splendid  library, — in  short,  all  that 
was  in  or  around  the  castle  was  fully  at  our  disposition ;  but 
he  would  permit  no  new  buildings  or  alterations  of  any  sort,  and 
as  the  rooms  assigned  to  us  were  in  no  way  suitable  for  our  use, 
it  was  evident  that  his  generous  support  must  be  regarded  as 
only  a  temporary  and  passing  assistance.     We  perceived  the  evil 


*  The  Wartensee  is  a  small  lake  in  the  canton  Luzern,  not  far  from  Sempach. 

f  About  30J, 

X  Auf  Schuster's  Rappen,— ».«.,  on  foot.     (This  was  in  1832.) 


132  Critical  Moments  in 


of  our  situation  in  all  its  keenness,  but  we  saw  no  way  out  of  the 
difficulty. 

In  a  most  remarkable  way  there  dawned  upon  us  a  new  pro- 
spect at  the  very  moment  when  we  least  expected  it.  We  were  sit- 
ting one  day  in  a  tavern  near  Wartensee,  and  talking  of  our  struggles 
with  some  strangers  who  happened  to  be  there.  Three  travellers 
were  much  interested  in  our  narrative.  They  gave  themselves 
out  as  business  people  from  Willisau/''  and  soon  informed  us  that 
they  had  formed  the  notion  of  trying  to  get  some  assistance  for 
us,  and  our  enterprise  for  their  native  town.  This  they  actually 
did.  We  received  an  invitation  from  twenty  associated  well-to-do 
families  in  Willisau  to  remove  our  school  there,  and  more  fully 
to  work  out  our  plans  amongst  them.  The  association  had 
addressed  the  cantonal  authorities,  and  a  sort  of  castle  was  allotted 
provisionally  to  us.  About  forty  pupils  from  the  canton  at  once 
entered  the  school,  and  now  we  seemed  at  last  to  have  found 
what  we  had  so  long  been  seeking.  But  the  priests  rose  up 
furiously  against  us  with  a  really  devilish  force.  We  even  went 
in  fear  of  our  lives,  and  were  often  warned  by  kind-hearted  people 
to  turn  back,  when  we  were  walking  towards  secluded  spots,  or 
had  struck  along  the  outlying  paths  amongst  the  mountains.  To 
what  abominable  means  this  spirit  of  bigotry  resorted,  the  follow 
ing  example  may  serve  to  show. 

In  Willisau  a  church  festival  is  held  once  a  year,  in  which  a 
communion-wafer  is  shown,  miraculously  spotted  with  blood. 
The  drops  of  blood  were  believed  by  the  people  to  have  been 
evoked  from  the  figure  of  Jesus  by  the  crime  of  two  gamblers ; 
who,  having  cursed  Jesus,  flung  their  sword  at  him,  whereupon 
the  devil  appeared.  As  "God  be  with  us"t  seized  the  villains 
by  the  throat,  a  few  drops  of  blood  trickled  from  Jesus'  wounds. 
To  prevent  others,  therefore,  from  falling  in  a  like  way  into  the 
power  of  the  arch-deceiver,  a  yearly  commemorative  festival  is 
held  at  Willisau.    The  wafer   is  shown  as  a  warning  to  devout 

•  A  small  town  not  far  away,  still  in  the  canton  Luzein. 

f  This  was  a  familiar  name  for  the  devil,  till  a  few  years  back,  in  Germany  ; 
surprisingly  recalling  the  term  "  Eumenides  "  for  the  Greek  Furies,  since  it 
originated  in  a  desire  to  speak  of  so  powerful  an  enemy  in  respectful  terms,  lest 
he  should  take  offence. 


the  Froebel  Comtnuntty.  133 

people,  who  flock  in  crowds  from  all  parts  of  the  neighbourhood 
to  join  in  the  procession  which  closes  the  ceremony.  We  felt  of 
•course  compelled  to  attend,  and  as  we  wished  to  take  our  part, 
we  offered  to  lead  the  singing.  I  feared  an  outbreak,  and  I  earnestly 
implored  my  friends  to  keep  quiet  under  any  circumstances,  and 
whatever  happened,  to  give  no  pretext  for  any  excitement.  Our 
singing  was  finished,  when  in  the  place  of  the  expected  preacher, 
suddenly  there  appeared  a  blustering,  fanatical  Capucliin  monk. 
He  exhausted  himself  in  denunciations  of  this  God-forsaken, 
wicked  generation,  sketched  in  glaring  colours  the  pains  of  hell 
awaiting  the  accursed  race,  and  then  fell  fiercely  upon  the  alarmed 
Willisauers,  upbraiding  them,  as  their  worst  sin,  with  the  fostering 
of  heretics  in  their  midst,  the  said  "  heretics "  being  manifestly 
ourselves.  Fiercer  and  fiercer  grew  his  threats,  coarser  and 
coarser  his  insults  against  us  and  our  well-wishers,  more  and  more 
horrible  his  pictures  of  the  flames  of  hell,  into  grave  danger 
of  which  the  Willisauers,  he  said,  had  fallen  by  their  awful  sin. 
Froebel  stood  as  if  benumbed,  without  moving  a  muscle,  or 
changing  a  feature,  exactly  in  face  of  the  Capuchin,  in  amongst 
the  people ;  and  we  others  also  looked  straight  before  us,  immov- 
able. The  parents  of  our  pupils,  as  well  as  the  pupils  themselves, 
and  many  others,  had  already  fled  midway  in  the  monk's  Jeremiad. 
Every  one  expected  the  affair  to  end  badly  for  us ;  and  our  friends, 
outside  the  church,  were  taking  precautions  for  our  safety,  and 
concerting  measures  for  seizing  the  monk  who  was  thus  inciting 
the  mob  to  riot.  We  stood  quite  still  all  the  time  in  our  places 
listening  patiently  to  the  close  of  the  Capuchin's  tirade  :  "  Win, 
then,  for  yourselves  an  everlasting  treasure  in  heaven,"  shouted 
he,  "  bring  this  misery  to  an  end,  and  suff"er  the  wretched  men  to 
remain  no  longer  amongst  you.  Hunt  the  wolves  from  the  land, 
to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  rage  of  the  devil.  Then  will  peace 
and  blessing  return,  and  great  joy  in  heaven  with  God,  and  on 
earth  with  those  who  heartily  serve  Him  and  His  saints.  Amen." 
Hardly  had  he  uttered  the  last  word  than  he  disappeared  through 
a  side  door  and  was  no  more  seen.  As  for  us,  we  passed  quietly 
through  the  staring  and  threatening  mob.  No  hand  was  raised 
against  us  at  that  moment,  but  danger  lay  about  us  on  every  side, 
and  it  was  no   pleasure  to  recognise  the  fact  that  the  sword  of 


134  Critical  Moments  in 


Damokles  always  hung  by  a  hair  over  our  head.  Feeling  very 
uneasy  at  our  insecure  condition,  I  was  sent,  on  the  part  of  the 
rest,  to  the  authorities  of  the  canton,  especially  to  Abbe  Girard,* 
and  the  mayor,  Eduard  Pfj^ffer,  to  beg  that  they  would  provide 
for  our  safety  with  all  the  means  in  their  power.  On  my  way  I 
was  recognised  by  a  priest  for  one  of  the  newly-introduced 
"  heretics  "  as  I  rested  a  moment  in  an  inn.  The  people  there 
began  to  talk  freely  about  me,  and  to  cast  looks  of  hatred  and 
contempt  at  me.  At  last,  the  priest  waxing  bolder  and  bolder, 
accused  me  aloud  of  abominable  heresy.  I  arose  slowly,  crossed 
with  a  firm  step  over  to  the  black-frocked  one,  and  asked  him, 
"  Do  you  know,  sir,  who  Jesus  Christ  was,  and  do  you  hold  Him 
in  any  particular  esteem  ?  "  Quite  nonplussed  by  my  firm  and 
quiet  address  he  stammered  out,  "  Certainly,  He  is  God  the  Son, 
and  we  must  all  honour  Him  and  believe  on  Him,  if  we  are  to 
escape  everlasting  damnation."  I  continued,  "  Then  perhaps  you 
can  tell  me  whether  Christ  was  a  Catholic   or  a  Protestant  ? " 

The  black-frock  was  silenced,  the  crowd  stared,  and  presently 
began  to  applaud.  The  priest  made  off,  and  I  was  left  in  peace. 
My  question  had  answered  better  than  a  long  speech. 

In  Eduard  Pfyffer  I  found  an  estimable  sterling  man  of  humane 
and  firm  character.  He  started  from  the  fundamental  principle 
that  it  w^as  of  little  use  freeing  the  people  from  this  or  that 
special  superstition,  but  that  we  should  do  better  by  working 
for  the  future  against  sloth  of  thought  and  want  of  independent 
mental  character  from  the  very  bottom — namely,  by  educating  our 
young  people.  Therefore,  he  set  great  store  by  our  undertaking. 
And  when  I  told  him  of  our  downcast  spirits  and  the  absolute 
danger  in  which  we  lived  at  the  moment,  he  replied  : — "  There  is 
only  one  way  to  ensure  your  safety.  You  must  win  over  the 
people.  Work  on  a  little  longer,  and  then  invite  them  all  from  lar 
and  near  to  a  public  examination.  If  this  test  wins  over  the 
crowd  to  your  side,  then,  and  only  then,  are  you  out  of  harm's 
reach."  I  went  home,  and  we  followed  this  counsel.  The  ex- 
amination was  held  on  a  lovely  day  in  autumn.     A  great  crowd 

*  A  Swiss  educational  writer  of  great  power  and  charm.     His  school  books^ 

"  Sur  la  langue  maternelle,"  are  really  valuable. 


the  Froebel  Community.  135 

from  several  cantons  flocked  together,  and  there  appeared  dele- 
gates from  the  authorities  of  Zurich,  of  Bern,  and  other  cantons. 
Our  contest  with  the  clerical  party,  which  had  been  commented 
upon  in  most  of  the  Swiss  journals,  had  drawn  all  eyes  upon  us. 
We  scored  a  great  victory  with  our  examination.  The  children 
developed  so  much  enthusiasm,  and  answered  so  readily,  that  all 
were  agreeably  surprised,  and  rewarded  us  with  loud  applause. 
From  seven  in  the  morning  till  seven  in  the  evening  lasted  this 
examination,  closing  with  games  and  gymnastic  exercises  per- 
formed by  the  whole  school.  We  rejoiced  within  ourselves ;  for 
our  undertaking  might  now  be  regarded  as  fairly  floated.  The 
institution  was  spoken  of  in  the  great  Council  of  the  Canton,  and 
most  glowing  speeches  were  delivered  in  our  favour  by  Herr 
Pfyfifer,  Herr  Amrhyn,  and  others.  The  Council  decided  that  the 
castle  and  its  outbuildings  should  be  let  to  us  at  a  very  cheap 
rate,  and  that  the  Capuchin  who  had  openly  incited  to  riot 
against  us  should  be  expelled  from  the  canton. 

A  little  time  after  this  examination  a  deputation  from  Bern 
came  to  invite  Froebel  to  undertake  the  organisation  of  an 
Orphanage  at  Burgdorf.  Froebel  suggested  that  he  should  not 
be  restricted  to  teach  orphans  alone  in  the  new  establishment  ; 
his  request  was  granted,  and  he  then  accepted  the  invitation. 

With  this,  it  seemed  to  me,  my  mission  in  Switzerland  was  at 
an  end,  and  I  began  to  long  to  return  to  Keilhau  ;  my  eldest  son 
was  now  a  year  old,  and  I  had  never  yet  seen  him.  Middendorfl" 
left  his  family,  and  replaced  me  at  Willisau,  living  there  for  four 
years  far  away  from  wife  and  child."'''  At  Keilhau  I  found  things 
had  improved,  and  the  numbers  had  increased  most  cheeringly.  I 
determined  to  throw  all  my  strength  into  the  work  of  raising 
the  mother  institution  from  her  slough  of  debt.  I  began  by  a 
piece  of  honourable  swindling :  and  borrowed  of  Peter  to  pay 
Paul,  covering  one  debt  witn  another,  but  at  the  same  time 
making  it  appear  that  we  were  paying  our  "way.  In  this  fashion 
our    damaged    credit   was    restored,    and    as    the    receipts  grew 


*  The  editors  venture  to  call  attention  to  these  little  facts  as  a  sample  of  the 
extraordinary  devotion  and  sacrifice  which  Froebel  knew  how  to  inspire  in  his 
colleagues.     This  exchange  of  Barop  and  Middendorff  took  place  in  1833. 


136  Critical  Moments  in 


happily  greater  and  greater,  I  began  to  gain  ground.  Eventually 
I  -was  able  to  send  help  to  the  other  branches  of  our  community, 
to  increase  my  help  as  time  went  on,  and  to  prepare  a  place  of 
refuge  for  them  if  anything  went  wrong  elsewhere. 

In  Switzerland  our  enterprise  did  not  develop  as  rapidly  as  we 
desired,  in  spite  of  the  sanction  of  the  Council  of  the  Canton. 
The  institution  at  Willisau  gained  unlimited  confidence  there ;  but 
the  malevolent  opposition  of  the  clerical  party  secretly  flourished 
as  before,  and  succeeded  in  depriving  it  of  all  aid  from  more 
distant  places.  Under  these  circumstances  we  could  not  attain 
that  prosperity  which  so  much  activity  and  self-sacrificing  work 
on  the  part  of  our  circle  must  otherwise  infallibly  have  brought. 

Ferdinand  Froebel  and  Middendorff  remained  in  Willisau. 
Froebel  and  his  wife  went  to  Rurgdorf,  to  found-  and  direct  the 
proposed  Orphanage.*  In  his  capacity  as  Director,  Froebel  had  to 
give  what  was  called  a  Repetitive  Course  to  the  teachers.  In 
that  Canton,  namely,  there  was  an  excellent  regulation  which 
gave  three  months'  leave  to  the  teachers  once  in  every  two 
years.t  During  this  leave  they  assembled  at  Burgdorf, 
mutually  communicated  their  experiences,  and  enriched  their 
culture  w'ith  various  studies.  Froebel  had  to  preside  over  the 
debates  and  to  conduct  the  studies,  which  were  pursued  in 
common.  His  own  observations  and  the  remarks  of  the  teachers 
brought  him  anew  to  the  conviction  that  all  school  education  was 
as  yet  without  a  proper  foundation,  and,  therefore,  that  until  the 
education  of  the  nursery  was  reformed  nothing  solid  and  worthy 
could  be  attained.  The.  necessity  of  training  gifted  capable 
mothers  occupied  his  soul,  and  the  importance  of  the  education 
of  childhood's  earliest  years  became  more  evident  to  him  than 
ever.  He  determined  to  set  forth  fully  his  ideas  on  education, 
which  the  tryanny  of  a  thousand  opposing  circumstances  had 
always  prevented  him  from  working  out  in  their  completeness ; 
or  at  all  events  to  do  this  as  regards  the  earliest  years  of  man, 
and  then  to  win  over  the  world  of  women  to  the  actual  accom- 
plishment of  his  plans.     Pestalozzi's  "  Mothers'  ^ooVi"  [Buck  der 


"  In  1833. 

t  This  regulation  is  still  happily  in  force. 


the  Froebel  Community.  1 37 

Mutter)  Froebel  would  replace  by  a  complete  theoretical  and 
practical  system  for  the  use  of  women  in  general.  An  external 
circumstance  supervened  at  this  point  to  urge  him  onwards. 
His  wife  grew  alarmingly  ill,  and  the  physicians  prescribed  com- 
plete  absence  from  the  sharp  Swiss  mountain  air.  Froebel  asked 
to  be  permitted  to  resign  his  post,  that  he  might  retire  to  Berlin. 
The  WilHsau  Institution,  although  outwardly  flourishing,  was 
limited  more  and  more  narrowly  by  the  bigotry  of  the  priests, 
and  must  evidently  now  be  soon  given  up,  since  the  Government 
had  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Jesuit  party.  Langetha)  and 
Ferdinand  Froebel  were  nominated  Directors  of  Burgdorf.* 
Middendorff  rejoined  his  family  at  Keilhau.  Later  on,  Langethal 
split  off  from  the  community  and  accepted  the  direction  of  a  girls' 
school  in  Bern  (that  school  which,  after  Langethal,  the  well-known 
Frohlich  conducted) ;  but  Froebel  never  forgave  him  this  step. 
Ferdinand  Froebel  remained,  till  his  sudden  and  early  death, 
Director  of  the  Orphanage  at  Burgdorf  A  public  funeral,  such  as 
has  never  found  its  equal  at  Burgdorf,  bore  witness  to  the  amount 
of  his  great  labours,  and  to  the  general  appreciation  of  their  value. 
When  Friedrich  Froebel  came  back  from  Berlin,  the  idea  of  an 
institution  for  the  education  of  little  children  had  fully  taken  shape 
in  his  mind.  I  took  rooms  for  him  in  the  neighbouring  Blanken- 
burg.f  Long  did  he  rack  his  brains  for  a  suitable  name  for  his 
new  scheme.  Middendorff  and  I  were  one  day  walking  to 
Blankenburg  with  him  over  the  Steiger  Pass.  He  kept  on 
repeating,  "  Oh,  if  I  could  only  think  of  a  suitable  name  for  my 
youngest  born  !  "  Blankenburg  lay  at  our  feet,  and  he  walked 
moodily  towards  it.  Suddenly  he  stood  still  as  if  fettered  .fast  to 
the  spot,  and  his  eyes  assumed  a  wonderful,  alm.ost  refulgent, 
brilliancy.  Then  he  shouted  to  the  mountains  so  that  it  echoed 
to  the  four  winds  of  heaven,  "  Eureka  !  1  have  it !  Kindergarten 
shall  be  the  name  of  the  new  Institution  !  " 


•  In  1836. 

f  Blankenburg  lies  on  the  way  from  Schwarzburg  to  Rudolstadt,  about  two 
hours'  walk  away  from  Keilhau. 


138  Barop,  Middendorff, 


jHUS  wrote  Barop  in  or  about  the  year  1862,  after 
he  had  seen  all  his  friends  pass  away,  and  had  him- 
self become  prosperous  and  the  recipient  of  many 
honours.  The  University  of  Jena  made  him  a  doctor, 
and  the  Prince  of  Rudolstadt  created  him  his 
Minister  of  Education.  Froebel  slept  in  Liebenstein,  and  Midden- 
dorft  at  the  foot  of  the  Kirschberg  in  Keilhau.  They  sowed  and 
reaped  not ;  and  yet  to  possess  the  privilege  of  sowing,  was  it  not 
equivalent  in  itself  to  reaping  a  very  great  reward  ?  In  any  event, 
it  is  delightful  to  remember  that  Froebel,  in  the  April  of  1852,  the 
year  in  which  he  died  (June  21st),  received  public  honours  at  the 
hands  of  the  general  congress  of  teachers  held  in  Gotha.  When 
he  appeared  that  large  assembly  rose  to  greet  him  as  one  man  ; 
and  Middendorff,  too,  who  was  inseparable  from  Froebel,  so  that 
when  one  appeared  the  other  was  not  far  off,  had  before  his  death 
(in  1853)  the  joy  of  hearing  a  similar  congress  at  Salzungen 
declare  the  system  of  Froebel  to  be  of  world-wide  importance, 
and  to  merit  on  that  account  their  especial  consideration  and  their 
most  earnest  examination. 

A  few  words  on  MiddendorflF,  culled  from  Lange's  account,  may 
be  serviceable.  Middendorff  was  to  Froebel  as  Aaron  was  to 
Moses.  Froebel,  in  truth,  was  "  slow  of  speech  and  of  a  slow 
tongue"  (Exod.  iv.  10),  and  Middendorff  was  "his  spokesman  unto 
the  people"  (v.  16).  It  was  the  latter's  clearness  and  readiness 
of  speech  which  won  adherents  for  Froebel  amongst  people  who 
neither  knew  him  nor  could  understand  him.  In  1849  Midden- 
dorff had  immense  success  in  Hamburg  ;  but  when  Froebel  came, 
later  on,  to  occupy  the  ground  thus  conquered  beforehand,  he  had 
to  contend  against  much  opposition,  for  every  one  missed  the 
easy  eloquence  of  Middendorff,  which  had  been  so  convincing. 
Dr.  Wichard  Lange  came  to  know  Froebel  when  the  latter  visited 
Hamburg  in  the  winter  of  1849-50.  At  this  time  he  spent 
almost  every  afternoon  and  evening  with  him,  and  held  the  post 
of  editor  of  Froebel's  Weekly  Journal.  Even  after  this  close  associa- 
tion with  Froebel,  he  found  himself  unable  thoroughly  to  go  with 


and  Wichard  Lange.  139 

the  schemes  for  the  education  of  little  children,  the  Kindergarten, 
and  with  those  for  the  training  of  Kindergarten  teachers.  "  Never 
mind  ! "  said  Froebel,  out  of  humour,  when  Lange  told  him  this ; 
"  if  you  cannot  come  over  to  my  views  now,  you  will  do  so  in 
ten  years'  time;  but  sooner  or  later,  come  you  must!"  Dr.  Lange 
nobly  fulfilled  the  prophecy,  and  the  edition  of  Froebel's  collected 
works  (Berlin  1862),  from  which  we  derive  the  present  text  (and 
much  of  the  notes),  was  his  gift  of  repentance  to  appease  the 
wrath  of  the  Manes  of  his  departed  friend  and  master.  Nor  was 
he  content  with  this ;  but  by  his  frequent  communications  to  The 
Educational  Journal  [Die  Rheinischen  Blatter),  originally  founded  by 
Diesterweg,  and  by  the  Froebelian  spirit  which  he  was  able  to 
infuse  into  the  large  boys'-school  which  he  long  conducted  at- 
Hamburg,  he  worked  for  the  "  new  education  "  so  powerfully  and 
so  unweariedly  that  he  must  be  always  thankfully  regarded  as  one 
of  the  principal  adherents  of  the  great  teacher.  His  connection 
with  the  Froebel  community  was  further  strengthened  by  a  most, 
happy  marriage  with  the  daughter  of  Middendorff. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  ABSTRACT  OF  THE 
PRINCIPAL  EVENTS  IN  THE  LIFE 
OF  FROEBEL,  AND  THE  FROEBEL 
COMMUNITY. 


1770.  June  24th. — Birth  of  Christian  Ludwig  Froebel. 

1780.  Sept.  17th. — Birth    of  Friedrich  Froebel's  first  wife,  Henrietta  Wilhel- 
mine  Hoffmeister,  at  Berlin. 
Christian  Froebel's  wife,  Johanna  Caroline  Miagge,    was  also   born  in 
1780,  on  August  28th. 
1782.   April  2 1  St. — Birth  of  Friedrich  Froebel,  at  Oberweissbach,  Thuringia. 

1792.  Froebel  is  sent  to  Superintendent  Hoffman  in  Stadt  Ilm. 
Sept.  3rd. — Birth  of  Heinrich  Langethal,  at  Erfurt. 

1793.  ^ept.  20. — Birth  of  Wilhelm  Middendorff,  at  Brechten,  near  Dortmund, 

in  Westphalia. 

1797.  Froebel  is  sent  to  Neuhof  in  the  Thuringian  Forest  to  learn  forestry. 

1 799.  Froebel  returns  home  ;  goes  thence  as  student  to  Jena. 

1 801.  He  leaves  Jena  (having  closed  his  career  there  with  nine  weeks'   im- 
prisonment for  debt),    and  soon  afterwards  begins  to  study   farming 
with  a  relative  of  his  father's  at  Hildburghausen. 
Dec.  29th. — Birth  of  Albertine  PVoebel  (Madame  Middendorff),  eldest 
daughter  of  Christian  Froebel.  , 

i8o2.   Death  of  Froebel's  father.     Froebel  becomes  Actuary  to  the  P'orestry 
Department  of  the  Episcopal  State  of  Kambery. 
Nov.  29th. — Birth  of  Johannes  Arnold  Barop,  at  Dortmund,  in  West 
phalia. 

1803.  Froebel  goes  to  Bamberg,   and  takes  part  in   the  governmental   land 

survey,   necessary   upon    the  change  of  government,    liamberg   now 
passing  to  Bavaria. 

1804.  He  takes,  one  after  the  other,  two  situations  as  secretary  and  accountant 

of  a    large    country    estate,    first,   that   of   Herr  von  Voldersdorf  in 
Baireuth,   afterwards  that  of   Herr    von    Dewitz   in  Gross    Milchow, 
Mecklenburg. 
July  nth. — Birth  of  Emilie  Froebel  (Madame  Barop),  second  daughter 
of  Christian  Froebel.  ** 


Chronological  Abstract.  141 


1805.  Death  of  Froebel's  maternal  uncle,  Superintendent  Hoffman,  Froebel 
determines  to  become  an  architect,  and  sets  out  for  Frankfurt  to  study 
there.  Becomes,  however,  teacher  in  the  Model  School  at  Frank- 
furt, on  Gruner's  invitation.  Visits  Pestalozzi,  at  Yverdon,  for  a 
short   time. 

1807.  He  becomes  tutor  in  the  family  of  Herr  von  Holzhausen  in  the  suburbs 

of  Frankfurt. 

1808.  He  goes  to  Pestalozzi  at  Yverdon  with  his  pupils. 

1809.  He  draws  up   an  account   of  Pestalozzi's   work    for    the  Princess   of 

Rudolstadt. 
i8io.  Froebel  returns  to  Frankfurt  from  Yverdon. 
181 1.  He  goes  to  the  University  of  Gcittingen. 
i8i2.  He  proceeds  thence  to  the  University  of  Berlin. 

18 13.  Froebel,  Langethal,   and   Middendorff  enlist  in  Liitzow's  regiment  of 

Chasseurs,  a  volunteer  corps  enrolled  to  take  part  in  the  resistance 
to  Napoleon's  invasion  of  Prussia. 

1814.  Jan.    5th. — Birth   of  Elise    Froebel    (Madame    Schaffner),    Christian's 

youngest  daughter. 
After  the  Peace  of  Paris  (May  30th,  18 14)  Froebel  is  appointed  assistant 
in  the  Mineralogical  Museum  of  the  University  of  Berlin,  and  takes 
his  post  there  in  August. 

1816.  Nov.  13th. — Froebel     founds     his    "  Universal    German    Educational 

Institute  "   in   Griesheim. 

1817.  Transference   of  the   School   to   Keilhau.      Arrival   of  Langethal   and 

Middendorff. 

1818.  First  marriage  of  Froebel. 

1820.  Christian    Froebel   arrives   at    Keilhau   with   his   wife   and   daughters 

Froebel  writes  "  To  the  German  people." 

1821.  Froebel    publishes    (privately)    "  Principles,  Aims,    and    Inner  Life  of 

the    Universal     German    Educational    Institute    in    Keilhau,"    and 
"  Aphorisms." 

1822.  He   publishes  the   pamphlets    "  On   German  Education,  especially   as 

regards  the  Universal  German    Educational    Institute   at   Keilhau," 
and  "  On  the  Universal  German  Educational  Institute  at  Keilhau." 

1823.  He  publishes  "Continuation  of  the  Account  of  the  Educational  Institute 

at  Keilhau." 

1824.  He  publishes  the  pamphlet  "  Christmas  at  Keilhau." 

1826.  Marriages    of    Langethal    and    Middendorff.       Froebel   publishes   tht 

"Education  of  Man"  ("Menscjien  Erziehung  ").     Later  he  founds 
the  weekly  Family  Journal  of  Education. 

1827.  Letter  to   the    Duke  of  Meiningen  (translated   in  this  present  work), 

uncompleted,  probably  never  sent  to  the  duke. 

1828    Letter  to  Krause  (partly  translated  in  the  present  work).      Barop  for- 
mally becomes  a  member  of  the  Educational  Community  at  Keilhau. 

1829.   Plan  for  a  National  Educational  Institute  in  Helba,  under  the  auspices 


142  Chronological  Abstract. 


of  the  Duke  of  Meiningen,  now  completed,  the  whole  Keilhau 
community  having  worked  upon  it  under  Froebel's  direction. 

1830.  Death  of  Wilhelm  Carl,  one  of  the  Keilhau  community,  by  dro\^ning  in 

the  Saale. 

1831.  Froebel   breaks  with  the  Duke  of  Meiningen,  and  gives  up  the  lielba 

project. 
Visit  to  Frankfurt,  and  meeting  with  .Schnyder. 
Acceptance  of  Schnyder's  offer  of  his  Castle  at  Wartensee. 
Opening  of  the  Institution  at  Wartensee  by  Froebel  and  his   nephew 

Ferdinand. 
•1832.  Barop  goes  to  Wartensee.     Transference  of  the  School  from  Wartensee 

to  Willisau.     Froebel  pays  a  short  visit  to  Keilhau. 
1833    Froebel  brings  his  wife  to  Willisau.     The  Bernese  Administration  invites 

him  to  consider  a  plan  for  the  foundation  of  an  Orphanage  at  Burg- 

dorf.      He  is  appointed  lecturer  for  the  Fvcpetitive  Courses  for  young 

teachers  held  there.      Langethal   comes  from   Keilhau  to  Willisau, 

Barop  returns  to  Keilhau. 

1835.  Froebel,    his   wife,   and    Langethal   undertake   the    foundation   of  the 

Orphanage  for  Bern,  in  Burgdorf.  Middendorff  and  Elise  Froebel 
go  from  Keilhau  to  Willisau  and  join  Ferdinand  Froebel  there. 
Froebel  writes  "The  New  Year  1836  demands  a  Renewal  of  Life." 

1836.  Froebel  and  his  wife  leave  Burgdorf  for  Berlin.     Ferdinand  Froebel  and 

Langethal  take  over  the  direction  of  the  Orphanage. 
l837'  Opening  of  the  first  Kindergarten  in  Blankenburg. 

1838.  Commencement  of  Froebel's  Sunday  Journal. 

1839.  Froebel  and  Middendorff  go  to  Dresden.      Death  of  Madame  Froebel. 

1840.  Guttenberg    Festival   (400th  anniversary  of  the  invention  of  printmg). 

Opening  of  the  Universal  German  Kindergarten  at  Blankenburg,  as  a 
joint-stock  company.  Froebel  and  Middendorff  in  the  following 
years  make  several  journeys  from  Keilhau  to  various  parts  of  Germany 
endeavouring  to  promote  the  erection  of  Kindergartens. 

1848.  General  Congress  of  Teachers,  called  by  Froebel,  at  Rudolstadt.    Second 

journey  of  Froebel  to  Dresden  in  the  autumn. 

1849.  Froebel  settles  at  Liebenstein  intending  to  train  Kindergarten  teachers 

there.     Work  at  Hamburg,  first  by  Middendorff,  then  by  Froebel. 

1850.  Froebel  returns  to  Liebenstein.     Through  the  influence  of  Madame  von 

Marenholtz-Biilow  he  receives  the  neighbouring  country  seat  of 
Marienthal  from  the  Grand  Duke  of  Weimar  for  the  purposes  of 
his  Training  College.  Foundation  of  a  new  IVee/^ily  Journal  of 
Education  by  Froebel,  edited  by  Lange.  Marriage  of  Elise  Froebel 
to  Dr.  Siegfried  Schaffner. 

1851.  Jan.  9th.-   Death  of  Chri-tian  Ludwig  Froebel. 

July.^ — Second  marriage  of  Froebel,  with  Luise  Levin.     First  appearance 
of  ihc  Journal  for  J'rudrtch  Froebel's  t.ducational  Aims. 
■  I852.   April. —  Froebel  is  called  to  join  the  Educational  Congress  at  Gotha, 
under  the  presidency  of  Theodor  Hoffman. 


Chronological  Abstract.  143 


^nne.  21.  — Death  of  Frocbel.  His  educational  establishment  at  Marien- 
thal  is  removed  to  Keilhau,  under  the  superintendence  of  Midden- 
dorff.  Madame  Luise  Froebel  also  assists  to  train  students  in  the 
methods  of  the  Kindergarten  at  Keilhau. 

1853.  Middendorff  enthusiastically  received  at  the  Congress  at  Salzungen,  when 

addressing  it  on  the  Froebelian  methods. 
Nov.  27th. — Death  of  Middendorff.     Madame  Luise  Froebel,  for  a  time, 
directs  Keilhau. 

1854.  Madame   Luise  Froebel  goes  in  the  spring  to  Dresden,  to  assist  Dr. 

Marquart  in  his  Kindergarten  and  training  establishment  for  Kinder- 
garten teachers.  Madame  Marquart  had  been  a  pupil  of  Froebel. 
Keilhau  ceases  to  be  a  training  school  for  Kindergarten  teachers. 
In  the  autumn  Madame  Luise  Froebel  accepts  the  directorship  of  the 
Public  Free  Kindergarten  in  Hamburg,  and  trains  students  there. 
(She  is  still  actively  employed  at  Hamburg  in  the  cause  of  the 
Kindergarten  ;  1886.) 
First  introduction  of  the  Kindergarten  system  into  England  by  Miss 
Prsetorius,  who  founds  a  Kindergarten  at  Fitzroy  Square.  Madame 
von  Marenholtz  Biilow,  who  was  the  support  of  Froebel's  latest  years, 
whose  influence  with  the  Grand  Duke  of  Weimar  procured  him 
Marienthal,  and  whose  whole  leisure  and  power  was  devoted  to  his 
service,  and  to  the  interpretation  of  his  ideas,  comes  to  England 
to  lecture  and  write  in  support  of  the  cause  of  the  Kindergarten. 
Publishes  a  pamphlet  on  "  Lifant  Gardens,"  in  English. 
Madame  Ronge  introduces  the  Kindergarten  system  at  Manchester;  and 
shortly  afterwards  the  Manchester  Kindergarten  Association  is  founded. 

1859.  Miss  Eleonore  Heerwart  (pupil  of  Middendorff  and  Madame  Luise 
Froebel),  and  the  Baroness  Adele  von  Portugall  (pupil  of  Madame 
von  Marenholtz-Biilow  and  of  Madame  Schrader,  the  great  niece  of 
Froebel),  come  to  England,  and  are  both  engaged  at  Manchester 
as  Kindergarten  teachers,  but  not  in  the  same  establishment. 

i860.  August  i8th. — Death  of  Madame  Barop  (Emilie  Froebel). 

1861.  The  Baroness  Bertha  Von  Marenholtz-Biilow  promotes  the  foundation 
of  the  Journal  The  Education  of  the  Future,  and  Dr.  Carl  Schmidt  of 
Coethen  undertakes  the  editorship. 

1874.  April. — Madame  Michaelis  comes  to  England  to  assist  the  Kindergarten 
movement.  Is  appointed  in  the  summer  to  lecture  to  the  school- 
board  teachers  at  Croydon.  Founds  Croydon  Kindergarten,  January 
1875,  with  Mrs.  Beriy. 
Nov. — The  London  School  Board  appoint  Miss  Bishop  (pupil  of  Miss 
Prsetorius)  as  their  first  lecturer  on  the  Kindergarten  System  to  their 
teachers  of  infant  schools.  About  the  same  time  Miss  Heerwart  (who 
had  left  Manchester  to  found  a  Kindergarten  of  her  own  in  Dublin  in 
1866)  is  appointed  principal  of  the  Kindergarten  Training  College 
established  at  Stockwell  by  the  British  and  Foreign  School  Society. 


144  Chronological  Abstract. 

The  Froebel  Society  of  London  is  formed  by  Miss  Doreck,  Miss 
Heerwart,  Miss  Bishop,  Madame  Michaelis,  Professor  Joseph  Payne, 
and  Miss  Manning;  Miss  Doreck  being  the  first  president.  Very 
soon  these  were  joined  by  Miss  Shireff  (president  since  1877,  when 
Miss  Doreck  died),  by  her  sister  Mrs.  William  Grey,  by  Miss  Mary 
Gurney,  and  by  many  other  well-known  friends  of  educational 
progress. 

1S79.  Autumn. — The  London  Kindergarten  Training  College  is  founded  by 
the  Froebel  Society,  but  as  a  separate  association  (dissolved  1883). 

18S0.  May. — ^The  Croydon  Kindergarten  Company  (Limited),  is  founded  to 
extend  Madame  Michaelis's  work  in  teaching  and  training,  Madame 
Michaelis  becoming  the  Company's  head  mistress. 

1S82.  Langethal  died.  Celebration  of  the  Centenary  of  Froebel's  birth  by  a 
concert,  given  at  Willis's  Rooms,  London,  on  the  part  of  the  Froebel 
Society,  to  raise  funds  for  a  memorial  Kindergarten  at  Blankenburg, 
by  a  fund  raised  at  Croydon  for  the  .same  purpose,  and  by  a  soiree 
and  conversazione,  presided  over  by  Mr.  W.  Woodall,  M.P.,  given 
at  the  Stockwell  Training  College  by  the  British  and  Foreign  School 
Society. 

1883.  January. — The    Bedford    Kindergarten   Company    (Limited)   founded^ 

mainly  upon  the  lines  of  the  Croydon  Company.      First  (and  present) 
head  mistress,  Miss  Sim. 
Miss  Heerwart  goes  to  Blankenburg  to  found  the  memorial  Kinder- 
garten there. 

1884.  International  Exhibition,   South  Kensington   (Health  and  Education). 

A  Conference  on  Education  was  held  in  June,  the  section  devoted 
to  Infant  Education  being  largely  taken  up  with  an  important  discus- 
sion of  Froebel's  principles,  in  which  speakers  of  other  nations  joined 
the  English  authorities  in  debate. 

The  British  and  Foreign  Society  organised  a  complete  exhibition  of 
Kindergarten  work  and  materials,  to  which  all  the  chief  London 
Kindergarten  establishments  (including  Croydon)  contributed  ;  and 
most  establishments  gave  lessons  in  turn,  weekly,  to  classes  of  children, 
in  order  to  show  pul)licly  the  practical  application  of  Kindergarten 
methods.  These  lessons  were  given  gratuitously  in  the  rooms  devoted 
to  the  Kindergarten  section  of  the  exhibition.  In  October  this 
section  was  closed  by  a  conference  of  Kindergarten  teachers  from  all 
England,  held  in  the  Lecture  Theatre  of  the  Albert  Hall. 

Autumn. — Dr.  Wichard  Lange,  the  biographer  of  Froebel,  and  collector 
of  Froebel's  works  (from  whose  collection  the  present  translation 
has  been  made),  and  by  his  numerous  articles  one  of  the  best  friends 
to  the  advocacy  of  Froebel's  educational  principles,  died,  under 
somewhat  painful  circumstances. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  FROEBEL. 

"Waltek,  L.    DieFroebel-LiU'i-atur.     8vo,  pp.  198.     Dresden  .  .$1.00 

Gesammelte  paedagogische  ScnRiFTEN,  hrsg.  \V.  Langc. 
8vo,  3  vols.  [I.  Autobiographic ;  II.  Menschenerziehung ; 
III.  Padagogik  des  Kindergartens].     Berlin,  1862 

Paebagogische  Schriften,  hrsg.  Friedrich  Seidel.  12mo,  3 
vols.  [I.  Menschen-Erziehung,  pp.  330;  II.  Kindergartcn- 
Wesen,  pp.  463;  III.  Mutter-  und  Kose-Lieder,  pp.  228]. 
Wien,  1883 6.50 

Menschen-Erziehung.     Erziehungs-,  Unterrichts-,  und  Lehr- 

kunst.     12mo,  pp.  330.     Wien,  1883 2.00 

The  Education  op  Man.     Translated  by  Josephine  Jarvis. 

12mo,  pp.  273.     New  York,  1885 1.30 

The  same,  translated  and  annotated  by  W.  N.  Hailmann. 

12mo,  pp.  332.     New  York,  1887 1.50 

L'  Education  de  l'  IIomme.  Traduit  de  Tallemand  par  la 
baronne  de  Crombugghe.     12mo,  pp.  394.     Paris,  1881 . . . 

Mutter-  und  Kose-Lieder.  Dichtung  und  Bilder  zur  edlen 
Pflege  des  Kindheitlebens.  Ein  Familien-buch.  12mo, 
pp.  228.     Wien,  1883 2.00 

Mother's  Songs,  Games  and  Stories.  Froebel's  ' '  Mutter-  und 
Kose-Lieder  "  rendered  in  English  by  Frances  and  Emily 
Lord.  Containing  the  whole  of  the  original  illustrations, 
and  the  music,  rearranged  for  children's  voices,  with  piano- 
forthe  accompaniment.     8vo,  pp.  289.     London,  1885 3.00 

Mother-Play,  and  Nursery  Songs.  Illustrated  by  Fifty  En- 
gravings. With  Notes  to  Mothers.  By  Friedrich  Froe- 
bel.  Translated  from  the  German.  4to,  pp.  192.  Boston, 
1878 ...,. 3.00 

The  Mother's  Book  of  Song.  Two-part  Songs  for  Little  Sing- 
ers, on  the  Kindergarten  System.  The  music  composed 
by  Lady  Baker;  edited  by  G.  A.  Macfarran.  16mo.  New 
York ; 

Autobiokaphie.     Berlin,  1862 

(145) 


146  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

The  Autobiography  of  Friedrich  Froebel.  Translated  by 
H.  Kcatley  Moore  and  Emilie  Michaelis.     12mo,  pp.  180. 

Syracuse,  1889 1.50 

[This  contains  the  "Letter  to  the  Duke  of  Meiningen,"  never 

completed,  a  shorter  account  of  his  life  in  a  letter  to  the  philosopher 

Krause,   a  sketch  of  Barop's,    and   a  chronology  extended    from 

Lange.] 

Autobiography  of  Froebel.  Materials  to  aid  a  Comprehen- 
sion of  the  "Work  of  the  Founder  of  the  Kindergarten. 

16mo,  pp.  128.     New  York,  1887 30 

[This  contains  the    "Letter  to  the  Duke  of  Meiningen,"  Miss 

Lucy  Wheelock's  translation,  taken  from  Barnard's  Journal  of  Edu- 

cati'on.] 

Froebel's  Explanation  of  the  Kindergarten  System.  Lon- 
don, 1886 20 

Hauschmann,  a.  B.     Fr.  Froebel:  die  Entwicklung  s.  Erzie- 

hungs-idee  in  s.  Leben.     8vo,  pp.  480.     Eisenach,  1874 —   2.00 

Kriege,  Matilda  H.     The  Founder  of  the  Kindergarten.     A 

Sketch.     12mo,  pp.  29.     New  York 

[See  also  Marenholz-Buelow,  in  next  list  below.  ] 

Marenholz-Buelow,  Baroness  B.  von.  Reminiscences  of 
Friedrich  Froebel.  Translated  by  Mrs.  Horace  Mann. 
With  a  sketch  of  the  life  of  Friedrich  Froebel,  by  Emily 

Shirreff.     12mo,  pp.  359.     Boston,  1877 1.50 

[See  also  Goldammer.  Marenholz-Buelow.] 

Phelps,  Wm.  F.     Froebel  (Chautauqua  Text-Book,  No.   15). 

32mo,  pp.  54 10 

Shirreff,  Emily.  Froebel:  a  Sketch  of  his  Life,  with  Let- 
ters to  his  Wife.     12mo.     London,  1877 1.00 

[See  also  Marenholz-Buelow,  above,  and  Shirreff,  below.] 

Bailey's  Kindergarten  System.     Boston 20 

Barnard,  Henry.  Papers  on  Froebel's  Kindergarten,  with 
suggestions  on  principles  and  methods  of  Child  Culture  in 

different  countries.    8vo,  pp.  782.     Hartford,  1881 3.50 

Beesau,  Amable.     The  Spirit  of  Education.    Translated  by 

Mrs.  E.  M.  McCarthy.     16mo.  pp.  325.     Syracuse.  1881. .  .1.25 


Bibliography.  147 


Berry,   Ada,    and  Emily  Michaelis.     Kindergarten    Songs 

and  Games.     12mo.     London 75 

BucKLAND,  Anna.     The  Use  of  Stories  in  the  Kindergarten. 

13mo,  pp.  17.     New  York 20 

The  Happiness  of  Childhood.     12mo,  pp.  21,  in  one  vol- 
ume with  the  above.     New  York 50 

[The  two  are  reprinted  in  "  Essays  on  the  Kindergarten."  below.] 
Carpenter,    Harvey.       The    Mother's    and    Kindergartner's 

Friend.     12mo.     Boston,  1884 1.00 

Christie,  Alice  M.     See  Marenholz-Buelow,  Perez,  below. 
DouAi,  Adolf.     The  Kindergarten.     A  manual  for  the  intro- 
duction of  Froebel's  System  of  Primary  Education  into 
Public  Schools;   and  for  the  use  of  Mothers  and  Private 
Teachers.     With  16  plates.     12mo,  pp.  136.     New  York, 

1871 1.00 

DuPANLOUP,  Monseigneur.  The  Child.  Translated,  with  the 
author's  permission,  by  Kate  Anderson.     12mo,  pp.  267. 

Dublin,  1875 1.50 

EcKHART,  T.     Die  Arbeit  als  Erziehungsmittel.     8vo,  pp.  23. 

Wien,  1875 

Essays  on  the  Kindergarten:  being  a  selection  of  Lectures 
read  before  the  London  Froebel  Society.     12mo,  pp.  149. 

Syracuse,  1889 1.00 

[See  Buckland,  Heerwart,  Hoggan,  Shirreff.] 
Fellner,  a.     Der  Volkskindergarten  und  die  Krippe.     12mo, 

pp.  130.     Wien.  1884 

Fkye,  Alex.  E.     The  Child  and  Nature,  or  Geography  Teach- 
ing with  Sand  Modelling.  12mo,  pp.  216.  Hyde  Park,  1888.   1.00 
GoLDAMMER,  H.     The  Kindergarten.     A  Handbook  of  Froe- 
bel's Method  of  Education,  Gifts,  and  Occupations.     With 
Introduction,  etc.,  by  Baroness  B.  von  Marenholtz-Biilow. 

Translated  by  William  Wright.     8vo.     Berlin,  1883 4.00 

Gymnastische  Spiele  und  Bildungsmittel  f  lir  Kinder  von 

3-8  Jahren.     8vo,  pp.  195.     Berlin,  1875 

Gurnet,  Mary.     See  Koehlbr,  below. 

Hailmann,  W.  N.  Primary  Helps,  or  Modes  of  making  Froe- 
bel's Methods  Available  in  Primary  Schools.  2d  Ed.  8vo, 
pp.  58,  with  15  full-page  illustrations.     Syracuse,  1889 1.00 


14*?  Antobiography  of  Froehel. 


Four  Lectures  on  Early  Cbild  Culture.     16mo,  pp.  74. 


Milwaukee 50 

—  Kindergarten  Culture  in  the  Family  and  Kindergarten. 
A  Complete  Sketch  of  Froebel's  Sy.stem  of  Early  Educa- 
tion, adapted  to  American  Institutions.  For  the  use  of 
Mothers  and  Teachers.  12mo,  pp.  119,  and  12  plates,  Cin- 
cinnati, 1873 75 

—  The  Kindergarten  Messenger  and  The  New  Education. 
Vols.  Y,  VI,  [completing  the  seiics].  8vo,  2  vols.,  pp. 
146,  188.     Syracuse,  1882,  83  4.00 

Primary  Methods.     A  complete  and  methodical  presen- 


tation of  the  use  of  Kindergarten  Material  iu  the  "work  of 
the  Primary  School,  unfolding  a  systematic  course  of  Man- 
ual Training  in  connection  with  Arithmetic,  Geometry, 
Drawing,  and  other  School  Studies.  12mo,  pp.  166.  New 
York,  1888 1.00 

Hailmaxn,  E.  L.  Songs,  Games,  and  Pihymes  for  the  Kin- 
dergarten.    12mo.     Springfield 1.75 

Heerwart,    Eleonore.      ilusic  for  the  Kindergarten.      4to. 

London,  1877 1.25 

Froebel's  Mutter-  und  Kose-lieder.     12mo,  pp.  18 

[The  last  is  reprinted  in  "Essays  on  the  Kindergarten,"  above.] 

Hoffmann,  H.     Kindergarten  Toys,  and  How  to  Use  Them. 

Toronto 20 

Kindergarten  Gifts      Xew  York 15 

HoGGAN,    Frances  E.     On  the  Physical  Education  of  Girls. 

12mo,  pp.  24 

[This  is  reprinted  in  "  Essays  on  the  Kindergarten,"  above.] 

Hopkins,  LouLsa  P.  How  Shall  M}'  Child  be  Taught?  Prac- 
tical Pedagogy,  or  the  Science  of  Teaching.  Illustrated, 
12 mo,  pp.  276.     Boston,  1887 1.50 

Educational  Psychology.     A  Treatise  for  Parents  and 

Educators.     24mo,  pp.  96.     Boston,  1886 50 

HcBBARD,  Clara.     Merry  Songs  and  Games,  for  the  use  of  the 

Kindergarten.     4to,  pp.  104.     St.  Louis,  1881 2.00 

Hughes,  James.     The  Kindergarten:  its  Place  and  Purpose. 

New  York 10 

Jacobs,  J.  F.  Manuel  pratique  des  Jardins  d'  Enfants.  4to. 
Brussels,  1880 


Bibliography.  1 49 


Johnson,  Anna.  Education  by  Doing,  or  Occupations  and 
Busy  "Work  for  Primary  Classes.  16mo,  pp.  109.  New 
York.  1884 75 

Kindergarten  and  the  School,    by  Four  Active  Workers. 

12mo,  pp.  146.     Springfield,  1880 1.00 

KoEHLER,  A.  Die  Praxis  des  Kindergartens.  4to,  3  Vols., 
with  more  than  60  Plates.     Weimar,  1878 

The  Same,  translated  by  Mary  Gurney.     Part  I  [First 

Gifts].     12mo.  111.     London,  1877 1.25 

Kratjs-Boelte,  Maria,  and  John  Kraus.     The  Kindergarten 

Guide,  illustrated.     Vol.  I  [The  Gift.s].     New  York,  1880.  2.75 

The  Kindergarten  and  the  Mission  of  Women.     New 

York 10 

Kriege,  a.  L.     Rhymes  and  Tales  for  the  Kindergarten  and 

Nursery.     12mo,  New  York 1.00 

Laurie's  Kindergarten  Manual.     New  York 50 

Kindergarten  Action  Songs  and  Exercises.     London. . .     .15 

Lysciiikska,  Mary.     Principles  of  the  Kindergarten.    111.,  4to, 

London.  1880 1.80 

Mann,  Mrs.  Horace.  See  Marenholz-Buelow,  above,  and 
Peabody,  below. 

Marenholz-Buelow,  Baroness  B.  von.  The  Child  and  Child- 
Nature.  Translated  by  Alice  M.  Christie.  12mo,  pp.  186. 
Syracuse,  1889 1.00 

The  same,  translated  as  "a  free  rendering  of  the  Ger- 
man" by  Matilda  H.  Kriege,  under  the  title  "The  Child, 
its  Nature  and  Relations;  an  elucidation  of  Froeljol's 
Principles  of  Education."  12mo,  pp.  148.  New  York,  1872.    1.00 

The  School  Work-Shop.     Tran.slated  by  Miss  Susan  E. 

Blow.     16mo,  pp.  27.     Syracuse,  1882 15 

Hand-work  and  Head-work:  their  relation  to  one  anoth- 
er. Translated  by  Alice  M.  Christie.  12mo.  London, 
1883 1.20 

Maudsley,  H.     Sex  in  Mind  and  Education.     lOmo,  pp.  42. 

Syracuse,  1882 15 

Meiklejohn,  J.  M.  D.     The  New  Education.     lOmo,  pp.  35. 

Syracuse,  1881 15 

Meyer,  Bertha.  Yon  der  Wiege  bis  zur  Scliul*;.  12nio,  pj). 
180.     Berlin,  1877 


150  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 


Aids  to  Family  Government,  or  From  the  Cradle  to  the 


School,  according  to  Froebel.  Translated  from  the  sec- 
ond German  Edition.  To  which  has  been  added  an  essay 
on  The  Rights  of  Children  and  The  True  Principles  of 
Family  Government,  by  Herbert  Spencer.  16mo,  pp.  208. 
New  York,  1879 l.sa 

MooRE,  N.  A.  Kindergartner's  Manual  of  Drawing  Exer- 
'  cises  for  Young  Children  upon  Figures  of  Plane  Geome- 
try.    4to,  pp.  16,  and  17  Plates.     Springfield 50 

MoRGENSTEiN,  Lina.  Das  Paradies  der  Kindheit.  Eine  aus- 
fuhrliche  Anleitung  fur  Mutter  und  Erzieherinnen.  F. 
Froebel's  Spiel-Beschaftigungen  in  Haus  und  Kindergart- 
en.    2ded.     8 vo,  pp.  292.     Leipzig,  1878 

MuLLEY,  Jane,    and  M.  E.  Tabram.     Songs  and  Games  for 

our  Little  Ones.     12mo.     London,  1881 40 

NoA,  Henrietta.     Plays  for  the  Kindergarten:  music  by  C.  J. 

Richter.     18mo.     New  York 30 

Payne,  Joseph.     Froebel  and  the  Kindergarten  System.     3d 

ed.     London,  1876 

[Now  rare,  but  printed  in  "Lectures  on  Education,"  Syra- 
cuse, 1884,  $1.00.] 

A  Visit  to  German  Schools.     London,  1876 

Pkabody,  Elizabeth  P.  Moral  Culture  of  Infancy,  and  Kin- 
dergarten Guide,  with  Music  for  the  Plays.  By  Mrs. 
Horace  Mann,  and  Elizabeth  P.  Peabody.  12mo,  pp.  216. 
Boston.  1863 2.00 

The  Education  of  the  Kindergartner.    Pittsburgh,  1872, 

The  Nursery:  a  Lecture 

The  Identification  of  the  Artisan  and  Artist  the  Proper 

object  of  American  Education 

Froebel's  Kindergarten,  with  a  letter  from  Henry  Bar- 
nard.    12mo,  pp.  16 

Lectures  in  the  Training  Schools  for  Kindergartners. 

12mo,  pp.  226 

rincludes  those  on  "  The  Education  of  the  Kindergartner"  and 
"  The  Nursery,"  named  above.] 
Education  in  the  Home,  the  Kindergarten,  and  the  Pri- 


Bibliography.  151 


mary    School.      With  an    Introduction  by  E.   Adelaide 

Manning.     12mo,  pp.  224,     London,  1887 •    1.50 

[A  reprint  of  the  "Lectures  in  the  Training  Schools."] 
and  Mary  Mann.  After  Kindergarten,  what?  A  primer 


of  Reading  and  Writing  for  the  Intermediate  Class,  and 
Primary  Schools  generally.     12mo.     New  York 45 

Perez,  Bernard.  The  First  Three  Years  of  Childhood.  Ed- 
ited and  translated  by  Alice  M.  Christie,  with  an  introduc- 
tion by  James  Sully.     12mo,  pp.  294.     Syracuse,  1889 1.50 

Plays  and  Songs,  for  Kindergarten  and  Family.    Springfield.     .50 

Pollock,   Louisa.     National  Kindergarten  Manual.      12mo. 

pp.180.     Boston,  1889 75 

National  Kindergarten  Songs  and  Plays.     12mo,  pp.  77. 

Boston 50 

Cheerful  Echoes:    from  the  National  Kindergarten  for 


children  from  3  to  10  years  of  age.  16mo,  pp.  76.  Bos- 
ton, 1888 50 

Pkeyer,  W.     The  Mind  of  the  Child.     12mo,  2  Vols.     New 

York,  1888 :^00 

Richards,   B.    W.      Learning  and   Health.      16mo,    pp.    39. 

Syracuse,   1882 15 

RiCHTER,  K.     Kindergarten  und  Schule.     Leipzig 

RoNGE,  Johann  and  Bertha.  A  Practical  Guide  to  the  Eng- 
lish Kindergarten  (Children's  Garden),  for  the  use  of 
Mothers,  Governesses,  and  Infant  Teachers:  being  an  ex- 
position of  Froebel's  system  of  Infant  Training:  accom- 
panied by  a  variety  of  Instructive  and  Amusing  Games, 
Industrial  and  Gymnastic  Exercises,  also  Numerous  Songs 
set  to  Music.  11th  ed.  4to,  pp.  80,  and  71  plates.  Lon- 
don, 1878 2.10 

Shirreff,  Emily.  Essays  and  Lectures  on  the  Kindergarten. 
Principles  of  Froebel's  System,  and  their  bearing  on  the 
Higher  Education  of  Women,  Schools,  Family,  aud  In- 
dustrial Life.     12mo,  pp.  112.     Syracuse,  1889 1.00 

Progressive  Development  according  to  Froebel's  Prin- 
ciples.    12mo,  pp.  14 

Wasted  Forces.     12mo,  pp.  17 

The   Kindergarten   in  Relation  to  Schools.     12mo,  pp. 

18.     New  York =30 


152  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 


The  Kindergarten   in   l^elation  to  Family  Life.     12mo, 

pp.17.     New  Y(.rlv ..- 20 

[Tlie  last  four  are  given  in  "  Essays  on  tlie  Kindergarten,"  above  ] 
Home  Education  and  the  Kindergarten.     12nio.     Lon- 
don, 1884 75 

The  Kindei garten  at  Home.     12nio.     London,  1884....    175 

Claim  of  Froebel's  System  to  be  called  ' '  The  New  Edu- 
cation."    New  York,  1882 10 

Essaj'S  and  Lectures  in  the  Kindergarten.     New  York..      .75 

Singleton,  J.  E.  Occupations  and  Occupation  Games.    12mo, 

London,  1865 1.00 

Steele's  Kindergarten  Handbook.     New  York 60 

Steiger's  Kindergarten  Tracts.    24  nos.     New  York 10 

Straight,  H.  II.     Aspects  of  Industrial  Education.     8vo,  pp. 

12.     Syracuse.  1883 15 

Thompson,  J\Irs  Elizabeth.  Kindergarten  Homes,  for  Orphans 
and  other  Destitute  Children ;  a  new  way  to  ultimately 
Dispense  with  Prisons  and  Poor-IIouses.     12mo,  pp.  128. 

New  York,  1882 1.00 

Weber,  A.     Die  vier  ersten  Schuljahre  in  Vorbindung  mit  e. 

Kindergarten.     8vo,  pp.  70.     Gotha 50 

Die  Geschichte  der  Volksschulpiidagogik  und  der  Klein- 

kindererziehung.     12mo,  pp.  339.     Dresden,  1877 

WiEBE,  E,  The  Paradise  of  Childhood.  A  Manual  for  In- 
struction in  F.  Froebel's  Educational  Principles,  and  a 
Practical  Guide  to  Kindergartners.     4to,  pp.  78  and  74 

plates.     Springfield 2.00 

The  Paradise  of  Childhood:   a  manual  of  instruction 

and  a  practical  guide  to  Kindergartners.     4to,  74  plates. 

London.  1888 4.00 

Songs,  Music,  and  Movement  Plays.     Springfield 2.25 

Wiggins's  Kindergarten  Chimes.     Springfield 1.50 

Wiltsie's   Stories  for   Kindergartens   and   Primary   Schools. 

Boston 30 

All  books  of  whicli  prices  are  given  may  be  had  of   the  pub- 
lisher of  this  volume. 


INDEX. 

Aaron  to  Froebel's  Moses .138 

Activity  at  Yverdon 78 

Actor,  life  of  an .-_ -.26 

Adventists,  doctrine  of 12 

^Esthetic  sense 41 

Agriculturalist,  life  of  an 24,  140 

Aim  of  educational  work.. 11 

Albums,  Sentiments  in 49,  50 

Alexander  I.  sends  for  Pestalozzi ..54 

Amrhyn,  Herr 135 

Ante-Darwinian  theories 31 

"  Aphorisms  " 141 

Arabic,  study  of 85 

Architecture  as  a  profession. 45,  46,  48,  50,  51,  108,  141 

Architectural  efforts 41 

Arithmetic,  teaching  of ...20,  55,  59,  61,  99,  106 

philosophy  of. ^ ...100 

Arndt,  Ernest  Moritz 45 

' '  Fragments  of  Culture  " ..62 

Art,  study  of 34,  40 

Art  of  teaching 24 

Astronomy.' 86,  105 

Attire,  peculiarities  of 105 

Augsburg  Confession — 50 

Austria  interested  in  Pestalozzi ..54 

Bach  a  Cantor ...7 

Baireuth --.- ---42,  140 

Bamberg,  life  at. 38,  47,  140 

Barop,  Johannes  Arnold 2,  16,  124,  138,  140,  141,  142 

"  Critical  Moments  " 127-137 

Batsch,  A.  J.  G - 31 

(153) 


154  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

Bauer,  Herr 92,  93,  100 

Belief  in  himself - 126 

Berlin,  life  at 89.  95,  100,  111,  121,  141,  142 

Bern 93 

Langethal's  school  at 137 

Berry,  Mrs -._- - 143,  147 

Best  friend,  Froebel's 93,  94 

Bible  biographies 53 

in  schools. 8 

' '  Bible  of  Education  " 63 

Birth  of  Froebel 3,  4,  140 

Bishop,  Miss,  appointed  London  lecturer 143 

Bivouac  life  agreeable 94 

Blankenburg .137,  142,  144 

Boarding-school  life .18 

Book-keeping 43 

Botany,  love  of .25,  27,  31,  56,  60 

Brandenburg,  Mark  of 92 

British  and  Foreign  School  Society 143,  144 

Brothers  of  Froebel.     [See  Froebel,  below.] 

Burgdorf,  Orphanage  at 93,  135,  136,  137,  142 

Cantor. 7 

Carl,  Herr 124,  142 

Carus,  Professor. 38 

Characteristics  in  boyhood.. 7 

Chemistry 30,  87,  88 

organic ..88 

Cheve  system  of  singing 56 

Child's  need  of  construction 77 

Crispine,  Ernestine 123 

Christian  education  essential 120 

family  life 7 

forms 74 

"  Christmas  at  Keilhau" 141 

Church  and  school 8,  19 

attendance 10 

Class  divisions  elastic 54 


Index,  1 5  5^ 

Classical  education 84 

teaching 99 

"  Come  let  us  live  with  them" ...69 

Comenius lOS 

Comet  of  1811 86 

Commission  of  1810 80 

Companionship ..44 

Comprehensiveness  essential 80 

Conditions  of  tutorship 66 

Confinement  in  boyhood 6 

Confirmation 22 

Congress  of  teachers  at  Rudolstadt 142 

at  Gotha 142 

at  Salzungen _. 14S 

Construction  essential  to  a  child 77 

"  Continuation  of  the  account  of  Keilhau" 141 

Contradiction,  life  freed  from 108 

Cosmical  development 89 

Crisis  at  Yverdon 80 

Croydon  Kindergarten .143 

Crystals  a  witness  of  life 112 

Crystallography 89,  97 

Culture,  Froebel's  plan  of .107 

his  own  insufficient 109 

Death  of  Froebel 93,  143 

of  his  father 38 

of  his  first  wife. --- 142 

Development,  analysis  to  synthesis 118 

of  being,  laws  of 112 

vs.  memorizing 116 

Devotes  himself  to  study  of  education 98 

Dewitz,  Herrvon 42,  43,  45,  140 

D iary  begun 36 

Diesterweg — - - 139 

Divine  worship  at  home.. 7,  10 

Doreck,  Miss - 144 

Drawing,  study  of 28,  55,  61,  62 


156  Autobiography  of  F roe  be  I. 

Dresden 91,  143,  143 

Duration  of  the  world 13 

Earlier  and  later  life  compared 16 

Early  education 3 

mental  struggles 14,  16 

Education  ad  hoc.  - —  -  -23 

. aim  of --- 11 

as  an  object -58 

at  Jena 28 

in  relationships 70 

purpose  of 69 

reaches  beyond  life 119 

"Education  of  Man  " 1,  76,  117,  141,  145 

Educator  and  teacher 68 

Energy  in  play - 21 

in  rocks 97 

England,  first  kindergarten  in 143 

Ephors 21 

Escape  from  creditors 128 

' '  Exchange  classes  " 54 

Expression  of  thought  difficult 73 

Eyes,  deficient  power  of 30 

"  Family  Journal  of  Education  ''. -. 117,  141,  142 

Family  ties. _  - . _ : '- .44,  83 

Father  of  Froebel.  [See  Froobel,  Johanii  Jacol).] 

and  mother... 118 

Fatherland  vs.  motherland 90 

Fichte... - - 116.  123 

Financial  difficulties -.33,  47,  106,  127,  128 

First  consciousness  of  self 9 

grasp  of  the  word  Kindergauten 137 

idea  of  a  school  of  his  own .68 

work  as  a  teacher 57 

Following  Nature  in  geography. 61 

Foresight  of  vocation  as  a  teacher 108 

Forestry-apprentice .24 

Form-development 98 


Index.  157 

Form  fixed  for  language ..98 

Fovms,  study  of .75,  76 

Forster,  Joliann  Georg. 94 

"Rhine  Travels" 94,  121 

Francke"s  Padagogium ..55 

Frankfurt,  life  at... 47,  50,  57,  141,  142 

Model  School ..57 

French,  study  of 64 

Froebel,  temporary  change  of  name 46 

family 

Johann  Jacob,  the  Father 3,  4,  6, 

17,  19,  21,  26,  27,  28,  33,  34,  30,  37,  38,  43,  140 

BrotJiers. 

Augustus 3,  32 

Christoph 3,  12, 

13,  15,  23,  26,  27,  32,  36,  47,  49,  65,  C8,  83,  87,  113,  122 

His  widow  misunderstands  Froebel 122 

Julius  Karl  Theodor 3,  4 

Christian  Ludwig...4,  87,  113,  121,  124,  127,  128,  140,  141,  142 

Traugott 4,  23,  28,  32,  33 

Karl  Poppo 4,104 

jfi'ephetcs. 

Ferdinand 113,  121,  131,  136,  137,  142 

Wilhelm 113,121 

Julius :... 114,  122 

Karl. 114,  122 

Nieces. 

Albertine  [Middendorf] 124,  140 

Emilie  [Barop].. 124,  140,  143 

Elise  [Schaffner] 124,  141,  143 

Luise,  Madame .143 

Froebel  Society 1,  144 

Froebel's  style  as  an  author 1,  117 

Frohlich 137 

Games 135 

a  mental  bath 82 

Gardening 6,  71 


158  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

Oeograpby,  teaching  of 60 

Geology 83,97 

Geometry 24,  25,  29,35 

German  brotherhood -90 

hind  and  people. 95 

language  teaching 56 

literature 35 

' '  German  education" 114 

Gifts,  first  suggestion  of. 75 

Girard,  Abbe 134 

Girls'  school  at  Oberweissbach 8,  9 

Godlike  not  alone  in  the  great 97 

Godmother  of  Froebel 73 

Goethe 35 

Gotha,  congress  of  teachers  at. 142 

Gottingen,  life  at 84,  97,  103,  111,  141 

Gottling 30 

Government  offices 23,  38,  95 

Grammar,  study  of 64 

Grammarians  at  odds 64 

Greek,  study  of 84,  85 

Grey,  Mrs.  William 144 

Griesheim. 122,  124,  141 

Gross-Milchow 42,  140 

Gruner,  Herr 51,  53,  58,  G3,  66,  109,  141 

book  on  Pestalozzian  methods 52 

Gurney,  Mary 144,  147,  149 

Gymnastic  Exercises 135 

Halle 45 

Hamburg.. 138,  142,  143 

Hardenburg,  Prince 54 

Harmonious  development ..55 

Harnisch 118 

Havelberg 92,  93,  121 

Hazel-buQs  the  clue  of  Ariadne 12 

Hebrew,  study  of 85 

Hecrwart,  Eleonore 143,  144,  147 

Hegel 116 


Index.  159 

his  formulae  adopted--- - -.- 113 

Helba,  National  Institutioa  at ,16,  102,  129,  141 

Hell ,  belief  in  - -  -  - 1 1,  133 

Hermes - 7 

Higher  methods  of  teaching - -. -98 

Hildburghausen- - -  -  - 37,  140 

History - 88 

Hoffmann,  Herr 17,  21,  43,  44,  140,  141 

Holfman,  Thedor - 142 

Hoffmeister,  Henrietta  Wilhelmine 123,  140 

Holzhausen,  Herr  von - -.110,  141 

Madame  von  - - --.110,112 

Home  of  FroebeL -.-6,  22,  27,  28 

abandoned 15,  35 

life 21,22 

Hopf--- - 56,  69 

Identities  and  analogies  sought  out  - - 107 

Iffland's  "  Huntsman  " - 26 

Illusions  have  a  true  side - 13 

Impressions  of  Pestalozzi.  -  - - 54 

Imprisoned  for  debt - 33,  140 

Individual  life  key  to  the  universal 16 

Inner  meaning  of  the  vowels - 99 

Inner  law  and  order 87 

Instrumental  music  derived  from  vocal- 82 

Introspection  a  characteristic. 4,  11,  25,  46,  49,  56,  72, 103,104,  109,  115 

"Isis" 102,  117 

Isolation  of  Froebel - 4,  5.  91,  107 

Jahn.- 120 

Jena,  life  at 28.  105,  138,  140 

Jesus  Christ,  education  based  on - 120 

"Journal  of  Education" 117,  141,  142 

"  Journal  for  Froebel's  Educational  Aims  " 142 

Joy  of  teaching 58 

Jussieu's  Botany ^ 31 

Kant 110 

Keilhau,  life  at 16,  102,  108,  117,  135,  141,  143 


t6o  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 


Kindergarten   occupations 129 

Knowledge  of  self  through  objects 97 

Korner  in  the  "  Wilde  Schaar  " ...91 

Krause,  Carl  C.  F.. 102,  103,  116 

letter  to 2,  102-125,  141 

Kriisi ^ 55 

Lange,  Wichard . 102,  138,  144,  145 

editor  of  "Family  Journal  " 188 

editor  of  Froebel's  Works 8,  32,  138 

Langethal,  Heinrich 91,  93,  100, 

101,  120,  122,  123,  124,  137,  140,  141,  142,  144 

Language,  philosophy  of .81,  99 

teaching  of..., ...' ..59,  64,  81,  84,  85 

Latin,  study  of ...20,  28,  34,  84 

Legacies 86,  123 

Leipzig. 91 

Leonhardi ..103 

Lessons  from  Nature's  training 72 

Letter  to  the  Duke  of  Meiningen 2,8-101,  141 

to  Krause 102-125,  141,  146 

"  Levana" 70 

Liebenstein,  life  at 142 

Life  as  a  connected  whole .104 

' '  Life,  will,  understanding  " 118 

Lilies,  vain  search  for J .96 

London  Kindergarten  College 144r 

Love  of  Nature.     [See  Nature,  love  of.] 

Luther,  Martin .50 

Liitzow,  Baron  von 91,  141 

Manchester  Kindergarten  Association 143 

Mankind  as  one  great  unity 84 

Manner  in  teaching 31 

Manning,  Miss I44 

Manual  training  at  Helba 121 

Map-drawing 39,  01 

"Mappe  du  Monde  Litteraire  " .36 

Marenholz-Blllow,  Baroness  von 73,  142,  143,  146,149 


I  tide  X.  1 6 1 

Marienthal 142,  143 

Marquart,  Dr 143 

Madame 143 

Master  of  the  girls'  school 7 

Mathematics 27 

Matrimony 11 

Mechanical  powers,  the 30 

Meclilenburg 42,  44 

Meiningen.  Duke  of 102,  129,  130 

Letter  to 2,  3-101,  141,  142,  146 

Meissen 92,  120 

Memorizing  of  rules  vs.  development 55,  109,  116 

"Menschen  Erziehung" ..1,  76,  117,  141,  145 

Mental  struggles 65 

Metaphysics ..40,  118 

Methods  of  Education 99 

Michaelis,  Mme 143,  146,  147 

Middendorf,  Wilhelm 92,  93,  94,  100,  101,  103,  120,121,  122, 

123,  124,  127.  128,  135,  136,  137,  138,  139,  140,  141,  142,  143 

Mineralogy 30,  87,  89- 

professorship  declined 112 

Misapprehension  of  Froebel's  motives ..16 

Model  School  at  Frankfurt 51 

' '  Moonstruck,"  Froebel  so  considered 105 

Moral  influence  of  the  teacher 60,  83 

pride 5' 

Mother  of  Froebel .3,  44,  72 

' '  Mothers'  Songs  " 76,  1 45 

Mugge,  Johanna  Caroline 140 

"  Mutter-  and  Koselieder  " 76,  145 

Nageli 81 

and  Pfeifer's  "Musical  Course" 81 

Name  temporarily  changed 46 

Napoleonic  wars. 91,  141 

reaction  from 127 

Natural  history 31,  32,  56,  87 

Natural  History  Society  at  Jena 32 

Nature,  communion  with „ .19 


i62  Autobiography  of  Froehei, 

love  of... -24,  31,  38,  43,  48,  71,  74,  82,  8G,  94,  96,  104,  105,  107 

as  an  educator 71 

Nature's  work  vs.  man's .-69 

Nature-Temple. 12 

Nephews  of  Froebel.     [See  Froebel,  Ferdinand,  etc.] 

Netherlands,  Froebel  in  the .95 

Neuhof 24,  140 

Nieces  of  Froebel.     [See  Froebel,  Albertine,  etc.] 

Niederer 57 

Note-taking. .--30 

Novalis's  Works-  - 45 

Number  horizontally  related 99 

Oberfalz 42 

Oberweissbach 3,  105 

Object-teaching 69 

Oken,  Lorenz 102,  116 

"Isis" 102 

*"  On  German  Education  " -141 

"  On  the  Universal  German  Education  at  Keilhau  "  -  - . 141 

Oriental  tongues,  study  of - 85 

Orphanage  atBurgdorf.- 93,  135,  136,  137,  142 

Orthodox  theology -.10,  11,  13,  14 

Orthography 62 

"Padagogik" -- 76 

Pildagogium  at  Halle- 45 

Paper,  pricking  of,  suggested -75,  76 

Payne,  Joseph .144,  150 

Permutations  of  numbers 106 

Perrault,  M 64 

Persian  language,  study  of - -85 

Personal  chrracteristics  of  Froebel 13,  14,  15,  63,  67,  104,  111,  126 

of  Pestalozzi - - 111 

Pestalozzi -.20,  51-54,  57,  59,  69,70,  77-81.  83.  89,  141 

aims  contrasted  with  Froebel's Ill,  116,  129,  136 

"  Buch  der  Mutter  " - ..136 

"  Einertabelle  " - -.59 

general  addres.ses - 83 

school.     [See  Yverdou.] 


Index.  163 

Pfyffer,  Eduard, ..- 81,  134,  135 

Philology,  study  of 22,  85,  98,  111 

Philosophy,  danger  of .40 

Physical  backwardness 18 

constitution 91 

education. 74 

geography .20,  55 

Physics... 29,  87,  88,  89 

Physiographj' . 60,  61 

Plamann  school 89 

Plans  for  life-work ...23 

Play  a  subject  of  study .82 

for  school  boys 60 

influence  of ...76 

Political  economy >. 85 

Politics .-88 

Portugall,  Baroness  Adele  von 143 

"  Positive  instruction". 55 

Praetorious,  Miss 143 

Pricking  paper  suggested 75 

philosophy  of .76 

"Principles,  Aims,  and  Inner  Life" 141 

Private  tutorship. ..59 

Professorship  declined .112 

Pronunciation 63,  64 

Prophetic  sentiments ^ 49 

Proschke's  "  Fragments  " -  -   .  -45 

Prussian,  Froebel  not  a ..90 

Public  school-examination ..184 

Purpose  of  education 69 

Quittelsdorf --102 

Reaction  from  Napoleonic  wars — 126 

Reading,  teaching  of ..7,  56 

Recognition  by  others 32 

Relationship,  education  in. 70 

Religious  experiences.. 8,  9,  19,  21,  25,  35,  74 

instruction. 74,  80,  119 

persecution 133 


164  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 


Repulsion  to  menial  service 23 

"  Rhenisclie  Blatter" 139 

Rhine,  Froebel  crosses  the 95 

Richter,  Jean  Paul 70 

Rigidity  in  teaching -62 

Recks  a  mirror  of  mankind ...97 

Ronge,  Madame 143,  151 

Rousseau's  system  of  singing 56 

Rudolstadt -117,  142 

Prince  of -.. 102,  138 

Princess  Regent  of 78,80,  141 

' '  Samuel  Lawhill " 22 

Sanskrit,  study  of 85 

Schalfner,  Siegfried. 124 

Schelling 116 

school  of --- 40 

Schiller .--35 

Schleiermacher 123 

Schmidt,  Carl 143 

Schmidt,  Josias 55 

c]uarrels  with  Niederer -  .57 

Schnyder 130,  142 

Schopenhauer,  Arthur. 117 

Schrader,  Madame 143 

Schwartzburg-Rudolstadt 3 

Scientific  extracts 36 

Scribbling  distasteful. .36 

Self-consciousness 5,  11 

Self-development  becomes  objective 59 

Self-discipline '. ...21 

Seiler,  George  Frederick 70 

Senses  exercised.. ..10 

Set  forms  in  teaching ..62 

Sex-life  in  plants 13 

Sexual  conditions 11,  12 

Shirreff,  Emily ....144,  146,  151,  152 

Singing 56,  81 

Skeleton  of  man  as  type. 31 


Index.  165 

Soldier,  Froebel  as  a - ..91-96,111,  144 

"  Sonntags-Blatt,"  articles  in --- .--76 

Soul-cultivation - - ''' 

emerging  from  chrysalis 49 

Sound  method  from  fundamental  principle 106 

Special  education -- 23,  115 

Speech-tones 98 

Spelling,  teaching  of 20 

Spiritual  endeavor  at  Yverdon.     [See  Religious  experiences.] 

experiences - 19 

Stadt-Ilm -_..18,44 

Step-brother  of  Froebel 15 

Step-mother  of  Froebel 4,  5,  27,  33 

Stimulation  at  Yverdon 79 

Stockwell  Kindergarten  College 143 

' '  Stone-language  " 10 

Sturm- .- 7 

Style  of  Froebel's  writing 1,  117 

Subject  vs.  object 46 

"  Sunday  Journal " 143 

Surveying,  study  of- 39,  40,  41 

Symbols  to  the  inner  eye - - Ill 

Taking  sides - 13 

Teacher  in  the  Plaraann  School 89 

requirements  of  a - . .  65 

Teachers'  institutes  at  Burgdorf 136 

Teaching  suggested 51 

"Teaching-plan"  of  Pestalozzi .-54 

"  The  Education  of  the  Future  " 143 

"  The  New  Education  "  an  antithesis 116 

"  The  New  Year  1836  demands  a  Renewal  of  Life  " 142 

Theatrical  performances 26,  33 

Theological  disputations 13 

Third  person  in  address 5 

"Thou,"  the  German - 5 

Thuringian  forest,  the --- 3 

"  To  the  German  People  " - 141 

Tobler 56,  69 


1 66  Autobiography  of  Froebel. 

Translators,  aims  of  the -- 1 

Trustee  of  Froebel's  property -  - 28,  33 

Uckermark,  the - - 48 

Uncle  of  Froebel.     [See  Hoffman,  Herr.] 

Unconscious  tuition 9 

wealth  of  youth .-. 71 

Unity -.- ---69.  70 

from  clashing  phenomena -  -  -   105 

in  Nature - 98 

lacking  at  Yverdon -- -.-79 

of  natural  objects -- - 86 

of  the  universe 89 

"  Universal  German"  education. 114,  141 

Universities  neglect  Froebel 117 

Vivacity  of  early  impulses 7 

Voldersdorf ,  Herr  von -  - 43,  140 

Yon  Dewitz 42,  43,  45,  140 

Holzhausen,  Madame 110,  113,  141 

Liitzow,  Baron --91,  141 

Marenholz-Billovr 73,  143,  143 

Portugall,  Baroness  Adele 143 

Yoldersdorf --- 43,140 

Yowels,  inner  meaning  of 99 

vs.  consonants 98 

Walks  with  pupils ..60,  83 

"Wartburg,  the 50,  108 

Wartensee,  the ...130,  131,  143 

Was  Christ  Catholic  or  Protestant  ? 134 

Weber's  ' '  Wilde  Jagd  " 91 

Weimar,  Grand  Duke  of 143,  143 

Weiss,  Prof _.. 89,  95 

Wichard's  "  Froebel  " 78 

Wieland .35 

Wife  [first]  of  Froebel 133.  141 

Willisau,  school  at 93,  135-137,  143 

Winckelmann's  "  Letters  on  Art  " 34 

Wollweider,  Dr. 45 

Works  written  by  Froebel 117,  141,  145,  146 


Index,  167 

Yverdon,  Pestalozzi's  school  at 20,  53-57,  77-84,  141 

lack  of  unity,  etc .83 

wavering  of  ground  principles 84 

Zendavista 35 

Zollikofer 7 


9' 


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